MARKET EDITION
MOVIESCOPE AT THE EFM | FEBRUARY 2014
Market Buzz Hot Titles at EFM PLUS: TERRITORY FOCUS: LITHUANIA | DOCS ON DEMAND | THE REALITIES OF VOD
FROM THE NETHERLANDS @ THE BERLINALE MARC JACOBS
Directed by Sam de Jong Produced by 100% Halal
40 DAYS OF SILENCE
Directed by Saodat Ismailova Produced by Volya Films
your Dutch film connection
LAST HIJACK
Directed by Tommy Pallotta & Femke Wolting Produced by Submarine Sales: The Match Factory
EVEN COWBOYS GET TO CRY
Directed by Mees Peijnenburg Produced by Netherlands Film Academy
international@eyefilm.nl | www.international.eyefilm.nl
EDITOR’S COMMENT
MOVIESCOPE
Too many films, so little time
105 Bridge House 3 Mills Studios Three Mill Lane London, E3 3DU United Kingdom T: +44 (0) 845 094 6061 T: +44 (0) 845 094 6263 www.MovieScopeMag.com www.cinando.com/movieScope @movieScope Publisher & Editor-In-Chief Rinaldo Quacquarini Copy Editor Naila Scargill Contributors: Liza Foreman Rinaldo Quacquarini Chris Patmore Nikki Baughan Nick Goundry Laurence Boyce Sharon Waxman Art Director Alan Bingle e: alan@forty6design.com Marketing: International Sales Ben David T: + 44 (0) 208 123 9545 e: Ben@Pelusa.co.uk Marketing: EMEA Sales Miguel Garcia T: +44 (0) 845 094 6061 e: Miguel.Garcia@movieScopeMag.com MOVIESCOPE Market Edition is published for the European Film Market (Berlin), Marche du Film (Cannes), Toronto International Film Festival and American Film Market (Los Angeles) No part of this publication may be reproduced by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage or retrieval system without the express written permission of the publisher. The opinions expressed in MOVIESCOPE articles and advertisements are those of the individual authors and advertisers respectively and should not be considered in any manner as expressions of the management or official policies of MOVIESCOPE Magazine Ltd. For information on reprints and syndication, please contact Editor-In-Chief@ MOVIESCOPEMag.com The title “MOVIESCOPE” and logotype are registered trademarks and service marks of MOVIESCOPE Magazine Ltd. Copyright 2014. All Rights Reserved.
A cursory glance at the listings of market screenings at EFM shows a current total of 1,066 features and documentaries from over 90 countries, scheduled to be screened over just nine days. That number will inevitably grow as last-minute screenings are added or re-scheduled. Add to this the thousands of other titles in the line-ups of the 400+ sales companies attending this year, and the enormity of the task for buyers - and indeed sellers hoping to attract their attention becomes evident. This is, of course, nothing new. Markets and festivals have been growing year on year for a while now. Indeed, some believe that this over-abundance of supply reflects an industry in rude health, with consumers the ultimate beneficiaries of this huge choice of diverse content on offer. Beki Probst, Director of the European Film Others however, are less Market convinced. Michael Gubbins, industry analyst at SampoMedia, coined this paradox The Illusion of Choice, suggesting that the choices consumers ultimately make, have less to do with the variety offered, and more to do with familiarity of product. Of course, at markets such
“I often compare the market to a department store where the variety of products on different floors makes it even more attractive for customers. There’s something for everybody.”
as EFM, Cannes and AFM, buyers are the ‘consumers’ and given that most are hamstrung by increasingly smaller wallets and a constant shortage of time, they are also likely to play it safe by opting for titles with the familiarity of named cast, which offer the smallest risk. So where does that leave everyone else? Those hoping for salvation from VOD may want to think again. Roger Jackson at KinoNation (p. 16) paints a bleak picture of the current financial viability of this platform for independent film - with perhaps the exception of documentaries. Others, such as Sharon Waxman of TheWrap. com (p. 26), go further, suggesting that crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter and Indiegogo may be creating a bottleneck, with too many mediocre films currently being made, and that barriers to entry may be the way forward. Whatever your beliefs, one truth remains constant. Markets like EFM still offer an unrivalled opportunity - no matter how increasingly distant - to unearth a gem of a film. The challenge for all exhibitors is of course, to ensure your ‘gem’ is the one being discovered this week. Wishing you success. Rinaldo Quacquarini Editor-In-Chief MovieScope
IN THIS ISSUE
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18
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A Baltic Country Thinking Big
A selection of some of the hottest titles on offer at EFM
The impact of VOD on the nonfiction film
TERRITORY FOCUS: LITHUANIA
MOVIESCOPE AT THE EFM | FEBRUARY 2014
MARKET BUZZ
DOCS ON DEMAND
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MARKET NEWS
Myriad Pictures brings star power to Berlin By Liza Foreman ›› Veteran sales agent Kirk D’Amico has announced that his sales and production company, Myriad Pictures, will commence sales of George C. Wolfe’s drama You’re Not You, an adaptation of Michelle Wildgen’s book, at EFM. The film top-lines Oscar-winner Hilary Swank as a high-achieving advertising executive whose life changes after an ALS diagnosis. She strikes up a meaningful friendship with her caregiver, played by Emmy Rossum. Josh Duhamel, Marcia Gay Harden, Julian McMahon, Jason Ritter, Frances Fisher, Loretta Devine, Ali Larter and Ernie Hudson also star. You’re Not You was produced by DPP in association with Di Novi Pictures and 2S Films, Swank and Molly Smith’s production company. CAA is handling domestic rights.
Laggies
A24 rolls in with Laggies By Liza Foreman ›› Ahead of its market premiere at EFM, Laggies, starring Keira Knightley, has been acquired for US distribution by A24, with a summer 2014 release planned. From first-time screenwriter Andrea
Seigel, the film premiered at Sundance and was directed by Lynn Shelton. Chloë Grace Moretz and Sam Rockwell also star in this coming-of-age story about a 28-year-old woman seemingly trapped in permanent adolescence. Laggies was
produced by Anonymous Content and the Solution Entertainment Group, in association with Merced Media Partners, PalmStar Media Capital, and Penlife Media. Solution Entertainment Group is handling international rights in Berlin.
Eye looks for success with The Last Hijack ›› Eye International is in Berlin supporting no fewer than seven market premieres including Arabic documentary The Last Hijack (Panorama), Saodat Ismailova’s 40 Days of Silence (Forum); Even Cowboys Get To Cry by Mees Peijnenburg’s (Generation) and Eugenie Jansen’s Dutch/English drama, Above us All.
WIDE GO SUPERNOVA IN BERLIN By Rinaldo Quacquarini ›› Loïc Magneron’s Paris-based Wide are in Berlin with six premieres this year including Peter Krüger’s N - The Madness of Reason, Tamar van den Dop’s Dutch drama Supernova and Satyajit Ray’s Nayak, all three of which are in official selections (Forum, Generation and Berlinale Classics). Not to be outdone, Wide House—the company’s documentary sales branch headed by Anaïs Clanet—brings nine market premieres including Johannes Holzhausen’s The Great Museum and Martin Esposito’s French documentary Man vs Trash (Super Trash).
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The Great Museum
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MARKET NEWS
EFM MARKET SCREENINGS
230
longest running time in minutes for a market screening (Home from Home – Chronicle of a Vision)
By Liza Foreman ›› Sony Computer Entertainment America’s Ratchet & Clank franchise has sold over 26 million video games worldwide since it entered the market in 2002. Partners Rainmaker Entertainment, Blockade Entertainment and Cinema Management Group will begin sales of the new adaptation at EFM, with CMG to debut footage of the 3D CG animation at the market. The story follows two unspoken heroes who strive to stop a badly behaved alien from destroying the planets of the Solana Galaxy. Production is underway in Vancouver with an early 2015 release planned.
54
languages represented in films screening in market
51
documentaries screening in market
3
films screening without dialogue
2
South African films screening at Berlin
Ratchet & Clank set to rack up deals for CMG
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MARKET NEWS
VOD IN NUMBERS
LEVELK ADDS THE WORD TO BERLINALE LINE-UP
500+
the current number of VOD services available in the EU dedicated mainly or wholly to feature film
1,300
›› Polish director Anna Kazejak’s The Word joins LevelK’s The Turning, Free Range and The Contest as official selection at Berlinale. Co-written by Kazejak and Magnus von Horn, The Word will premiere as a part of the Generation section. Kino Swiat will release locally in Poland in 2014, with LevelK to handle international distribution.
the current number of films produced each year in the EU
328m
total cinema admissions for EU films during 2012
13.5%
percentage of total admissions for EU films claimed by James Bond-franchise, Skyfall in 2012.
22
the number of films made in 2012 with budgets of over $100m
The Word
Daniel Radcliffe boards Brooklyn Bridge for Goldcrest ›› Goldcrest Films will finance, distribute and sell all international rights to Brooklyn Bridge, to be directed by Douglas McGrath (Emma, Infamous, Nicholas Nickleby). Daniel Radcliffe is attached to star as engineer Washington Roebling, who must oversee the construction of New York’s Brooklyn
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Bridge after the death of his father. His obsession threatens to drive his family apart until he discovers he has an improbable ally. The film is set to shoot in August 2014 with Goldcrest Post (home to the Academy Award winning sound team from Les Misérables) providing post-production services.
The Reality of VOD: Roger Jackson, Co-Founder of Los Angeles based KinoNation discusses the financial sustainability of this new business model. PAGE 16
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MARKET NEWS
26th GALWAY FILM FLEADH 8-13 JULY 2014 WWW.GALWAYFILMFLEADH.COM
Galway Film Fleadh 8th-13th July 2014
Auf das Leben!
Germany’s Harold and Maude hit up Berlin By Liza Foreman ›› Global Screen, the world sales unit of Bavaria Film and Telepool, has added Auf das Leben! (To Life!) to its Berlinale line-up. Uwe Janson, who received a BAFTA nomination for his miniseries The Sinking of the Laconia, directs. Veteran German actress Hannelore Elsner plays a fading cabaret singer who meets a minibus-dwelling twentysomething man, and the two hit it
off. Alice Brauner produced the film for CCC Filmkunst, while ZDF and MZ-Film co-produced. Global Screen is also selling Dominik Graf ’s competition film Beloved Sisters. The company has five market premieres at EFM, including Beltracchi: The Art of Forgery, a documentary feature about the art forger Wolfgang Beltracchi, and the Sundance World Cinema Documentary Competition title, The Green Prince.
TELLING STORIES IRELAND’S PREMIER MARKET
18th GALWAY FILM FAIR GATEWAY TO CO-PRODUCING WITH IRELAND
Main Street deal heads for Berlin By Liza Foreman ›› Main Street Films has acquired Joe Manganiello’s La Bare for the US and China. The Magic Mike star’s directorial debut gives an insider’s look at the history and culture of the most popular male strip club in the world, La Bare Dallas. Executive producers Shaun
Redick and Ray Mansfield of the Movie Package Company represent the film, with sales to continue in Berlin. MPC’s titles include the thriller Blood Mountain by Sergei Bodrov which is set for a 2014 shoot in Morocco, as well as John Moore’s upcoming action thriller, The Englishman.
Galway Film Fair 10th–12th July 2014
Sanctuary finds a home at Highland By Rinaldo Quacquarini ›› Highland Film Group has reached Berlin with expectation, having picked up worldwide sales on Sanctuary, a new horror project from Atlas Independent. Gonzalo Lopez-Gallego (Apollo 18, Open Grave) scheduled to direct from a script by Ryne Douglas Pearson (Knowing). The company is hoping to scare up some buyers for the film which follows three documentarians who travel to South America to investigate a town which mysteriously disappeared from the map. The trio are led to the ultimate enigma after a series of misfortunate occurrences: an immense concrete structure located in the middle of the missing town, with no entrances or exits.
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MARKET NEWS
Film Bridge offers Repentance ›› Santa Monica based Film Bridge will premiere the Forest Whitaker starrer Repentance at EFM. Directed by Phillippe Caland (Boxing Helena) from a script co-written with Shintaro Shimosawa (The Grudge), the psychological thriller follows Angel Sanchez (Whitaker) as he tries to solve the mysterious death of his mother. Anthony Mackie and Mike Epps co-star. The film is scheduled for a US theatrical release on February 28 via Lionsgate.
Repentance
Altitude shops Blood Mountain ›› Altitude Film Sales is to represent international rights for Sergei Bodrov’s upcoming feature Blood Mountain. Benedict Cumberbatch will star as a private military contractor whose special forces team is ambushed and killed during a covert raid, forcing him to escort one of the world’s most wanted terrorists over hostile terrain in order to bring him to justice. Principal photography is slated to begin in April in Morocco. UTA Independent Film Group represents North American rights.
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MARKET NEWS
Source: Cinema Advertising Association (CAA)
UK CINEMA - IN NUMBERS
165,539,976 17,639,654 Total number of UK cinema admissions in 2013
9,885,140
highest number of UK cinema admissions in a single month (August 2013)
lowest number of UK cinema admissions in a single month (September 2013)
Road 47
MonteCristo lines up World Premiere for Road 47 The Exchange arrives with Obvious Child ›› Los Angeles-based The Exchange, heads to the EFM with Obvious Child. Gillian Robespierre directs Jenny Slate, David Cross, Gaby Hoffman and Jack Lacy in a comedy about a Brooklyn stand-up comedian Donna Stern (Slate) who gets dumped, fired and pregnant just in time for Valentine’s Day.
Broken Hill Blues
Yellow Affair goes Blue By Rinaldo Quacquarini ›› The Yellow Affair is representing world sales for Sofia Norlin’s Swedish drama, Broken Hill Blues. Winner of Best Cinematography at the Guldbagge Awards, the film tells the story of a group of displaced youths in a remote arctic mining town. Broken Hill Blues will also be vying for the Crystal Bear following its selection at Berlinale 2014 in the Generation 14+ Competition.
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By Liza Foreman ›› MonteCristo International’s president and CEO Michael Taverna has announced the world premiere of war drama Road 47 at EFM. The story revolves around a landmine clearance platoon sent out for the Brazilian Expeditionary Force. Following a mine explosion, the only way out is via the terrifying Road 47. Vicente Ferraz directs the live-action feature, which was shot in Brazilian and Italian. Other films on the company’s slate include Anina, a family film described as a fantastical journey into the world of a 10-year-old girl who is given a peculiar punishment after a playground fight. Meanwhile, the company begins production this month on Resilient 3D, which stars Robert Beltran, Virginia Madsen, Ayelet Zurer, Miguel Sandoval and John Diehl. Directed by Taverna, the film is the second 3D genre film produced by the MonteCristo Fund LLC and will be available for distribution the fourth quarter of 2014.
Magnolia gets Frank By Rinaldo Quacquarini ›› Magnolia also acquired North American rights to Sundance premiere Frank,, slating a summer 2014 theatrical release. The offbeat comedy by Lenny Abrahamson stars Michael Fassbender as an eccentric musician who wears a giant fake head at all times. Domhnall Gleeson, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Scoot McNairy co-star. The deal was negotiated by SVP of Acquisitions Dori Begley and Director of Acquisitions John Von Thaden, with WME and Protagonist Pictures on behalf of the filmmakers. Protagonist is Frank handling worldwide sales.
MOVIE MOVIESCOPE AT THE EFM | FEBRUARY 2014
MARKET NEWS
XYZ Films launches Kevin Smith’s Tusk By Liza Foreman ›› With previous credits including The Raid, Los Angeles based XYZ Films has become increasingly active in foreign sales and production. The company has signed on to handle writer-director Kevin Smith’s Tusk, which will launch in Berlin. Justin Long, Haley Joel Osment, Genesis Rodriguez and Michael Parks have been cast in the feature, which is currently in production. Described as a
contemporary monster movie, the film follows a reporter (Long) who finds the best story of his career in Mr. Howe (Parks), a colourful global adventurer. Finance was provided by Demarest Films (A Most Wanted Man, Machete Kills), which is also producing the project in partnership with A24 (Spring Breakers, The Bling Ring.) A24 plans to release the film in the third quarter of 2014 in the US.
HIGH POINT LOOKS IN THE MIRROR ›› Cary Fitzgerald’s High Point has picked up international sales on The Mirror. Directed by Ed Boase (Blooded), the UK production stars Jemma Dallender, Joshua Dickinson and Nate Fallows as three flatmates who purchase a cursed mirror in search for proof of the supernatural. High Point will introduce The Mirror to buyers during EFM.
The Mirror
coastal
I Put A Hit On You
Double Dutch takes I Put A Hit On You ›› Producers Jordan Gross and Mike MacMillan have announced Double Dutch International as international sales agent for their comedy feature I Put a Hit on You, which will see its market
premiere on Friday, February 7. Directed by Dane Clark and Linsey Stewart, the film stars Aaron Ashmore (Smallville) and Sara Canning (The Vampire Diaries). APA is representing the film for the US.
Classic
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VE I T R O P P SU
The Kent County Council Film Office offers a first class film commissioning service for all manner of productions. Kent boasts a vast, eclectic range of locations, including 350 miles of diverse coastline, a variety of architectural styles, as well as the largest independent HD Stage in the UK. We can support your production in a variety of ways from a bespoke location finding service to closing roads for filming so, let Kent open possibilities. www.kent.gov.uk/filmoffice • Tel: +44 (0)300 333 5656
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MARKET NEWS
Dolphin debuts international sales shingle in Berlin By Liza Foreman ›› Family films are set to get a boost in Berlin with the launch of sales entity Dolphin Films International. The move follows on from the 2013 launch of Dolphin Films, the feature division of the family content provider, Dolphin Entertainment. The company has sealed a multi-year partnership with IM Global, which will provide international
sales, marketing, publicity, legal and accounting support, and access to its distribution relationships worldwide. Christine Perrin-Stocco, Dolphin’s veteran international sales executive, will oversee the new division. The initial lineup includes live-action feature Max Steel, an original story based on the Mattel franchise. The film will be presented by IM Global and Mattel at Berlin.
Picture Tree nabs Fack Ju Göhte ›› International sales and production outfit Picture Tree has secured global distribution rights for the hit German romcom Fack Ju Göhte / Suck Me Shakespeer. Directed by Bora Daˇg tekin (Turkish for Beginners) and starring Elyas M’Barek (The Wave, The
Physician) and Karoline Herfurth (The Reader, We are the Night), the film was Germany’s most successful release in 2013, selling over six million tickets and exceeding $60m at the box office. Picture Tree will present the blockbuster at EFM.
Showbox bring Suspect to market
Suspect
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›› Korean outfit Showbox are premiering Shin-yun Won’s action thriller The Suspect, about a North Korean special agent who goes on the run after defecting to the South. Yoo Gong stars along with Hee-soon Park and Seong-ha Cho.
Gods Behaving Badly
Lightning strikes with Gods Behaving Badly By Rinaldo Quacquarini ›› Michael Klein’s Lightning Entertainment has reached Berlin with Gods Behaving Badly from director Marc Turtletaub. The comedy about Greek Gods living in a modern-day New York stars Alicia Silverstone, Christopher Walken, John Turturro, Edie Falco and Sharon Stone. The Santa Monica based company is also selling Carey McKenzie’s South African thriller Cold Harbour and Australian prison drama Healing, directed by Craig Monahan.
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INCENTIVES ROUND-UP
FOLLOW THE MONEY
FILMING INCENTIVES AND THE GLOBAL PRODUCTION INDUSTRY By Nick Goundry at the Location Guide ›› Location work in today’s global production industry is driven by filming incentives. The major US studios and production companies are increasingly refusing to even consider parts of the world where generous production incentives are not offered. The countries that attract big-budget shoots most often are those that offer the right mix of generous tax breaks, world-class studio facilities, experienced crew
and good access to eye-catching exterior locations. Regional economic benefits can be substantial and there can be long-term boosts to film tourism. Unsurprisingly, within this increasingly competitive landscape, a handful of global filming hubs dominate big-budget movie production. Here, we explore a selection of countries and territories from around the world offering different incentives packages and an overview of how they are reaching out to
the global production industry. Included in the round-up are established production centres such as the UK and the US state of New York, and also up-and-coming locations such as Lithuania and the United Arab Emirates. The Location Guide is committed to providing essential pre-production resources to help companies plan their international shoots. Part of this includes daily editorial coverage of the latest filming incentive news from around the world.
CANADA ›› Ontario and Quebec are Canada’s eastern production hubs, both with base filming incentives of 25 per cent, although Ontario takes the top spot with more comprehensive studio facilities that include Pinewood Toronto and Cinespace Film Studios. In the west, British Columbia offers a 33 per cent filming incentive but the tax credit only covers local labour costs. When combined with local filming infrastructure and studio facilities in Vancouver, however, this has been enough to attract major productions. All three main hubs routinely double for US locations, especially since California has become less supportive of big-budget features and TV dramas.
USA
›› New York has become one of the top production hubs in the US. This is largely due to the state’s generous 30 per cent filming incentive that has an annual fund of $420m—more than four times that of California. The programme specifically incentivises productions to film in upstate regions, rather than in the iconic cityscape of New York City. In 2013 The Amazing Spider-Man 2 became the biggest feature to film entirely in New York State and elements of the tax credit programme have also attracted late-night entertainment staple The Tonight Show to Manhattan for the first time in a generation.
IT’S BEEN YEARS SINCE I HAD A CONVERSATION WITH A FILMMAKER THAT DIDN’T START, ‘WHAT INCENTIVES DO YOU OFFER?’ INCENTIVES, THEREFORE, REALLY ARE THE FOOT IN THE DOOR FOR A LOT OF LOCATIONS. Martin Cuff, former Executive Director of the Association of Film Commissioners International.
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MEXICO ›› Mexico offers filming incentives comprising cash rebates and VAT savings. Among the main regional appeals are production costs that undercut much of the competition. One high-profile recent visitor to Mexico City was Neill Blomkamp’s sci-fi feature Elysium, which used the city as a stand-in for a dystopian Los Angeles. Mexico recently lowered its spending threshold for commercials to qualify for production support, in a bid to boost its international appeal for this lucrative sector. As a country, Mexico offers an impressive diversity in its filming locations, from deserts through to tropical regions in the south.
UK ›› The UK is now one of the top production hubs in the world. Generous filming incentives worth up to 25 per cent for film and TV are a big part of the international appeal, as are the world-class studio facilities and extensive crew base. Studio space is in high global demand. Most of the biggest facilities are in the London area, although the BBC has a strong presence in Wales and also further north in Manchester. Scotland is becoming more popular as an international filming location—although it lacks a purpose-built studio—and Game of Thrones has helped boost Northern Ireland’s industry.
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GERMANY ›› Germany offers worldclass production facilities such as Studio Babelsberg near Berlin and the German Film Fund provides a grant of up to 20 per cent for co-productions that spend at least a quarter of their budget locally. The country has faced a challenge in recent years competing with its international rivals, but in the past year has hosted major shoots for World War II dramas The Monuments Men and The Book Thief, as well as Wes Anderson’s Grand Budapest Hotel. Germany’s central European position is a clear advantage and the country hosts one of the world’s major film festivals.
LITHUANIA
CZECH REPUBLIC
›› Lithuania’s new 20 per cent filming incentive became active in 2014 and will be available through to 2018. Production support is on offer from the Vilnius Film Office and officials are looking for a threefold increase in production activity over the course of 2014. The capital Vilnius is an impressive historic city with an Old Town that covers nearly four sq. km. and was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the mid-1990s. As a country, Lithuania already has a thriving commercials industry and it clearly has broader production ambitions with the launch of the new filming incentive.
›› The Czech Republic is a popular European filming location with a well-funded 20 per cent filming incentive and production facilities that include Prague Studios and Barrandov Studios. Local production services and crew are world-class. Over the past year the country has attracted Stalin-era thriller Child 44 and the BBC’s new adventure series The Musketeers, which doubled Prague for Paris. Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol was also a recent visitor. Producers have easy access to rolling central European countryside and urban landscapes that can double for many different parts of the world, while warm summers are also an international appeal.
HUNGARY
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES ›› The United Arab Emirates is establishing itself as a filming production hub in the Middle East, complete with world-class studio facilities. Dubai has a Film and TV Commission but no formal filming incentive, choosing instead to negotiate personalised deals with specific productions. Abu Dhabi, on the other hand, recently launched a 30 per cent filming incentive that has attracted Hollywood shoots including the Jerry Bruckheimer produced Beware the Night. As a region, the UAE offers exotic visuals that producers around the world are likely to be interested in exploring if they can make the right deal.
›› Hungary is established as a European production centre with a skilled crew base and production costs that undercut much of the competition, along with a 20 per cent tax rebate. Budapest offers studio facilities and tends to be the country’s main filming focus—the city doubled for Moscow in Bruce Willis’ A Good Day to Die Hard. A multitude of high-profile international commercials have also filmed locally over the past year, including Tata Sky—who made history with India’s longest ever commercial—and Hero Motocorp. The BBC filmed a TV adaptation of Alfred Hitchcock’s The Lady Vanishes at Stern Film Studio in Budapest.
AUSTRALIA
SOUTH AFRICA ›› South Africa is among the southern hemisphere’s main production hubs as a cost-effective filming option that routinely doubles for locations around the world. The country offers a filming incentive programme built around a 20 per cent rebate and continues to attract major international productions such as new pirate TV miniseries Black Sails, which filmed at Cape Town Film Studios. Brands filming commercials locally over the past few months have included the high-profile Guinness Sapeurs campaign, Renault Mégane and J&B Scotch Whisky, while features such as Safe House and District 9, not to mention Neill Blomkamp’s upcoming Chappie, have helped put South Africa’s film industry on the map.
MOVIESCOPE AT THE EFM | FEBRUARY 2014
›› Australia’s international production appeal has been hamstrung over the years by factors including a strong dollar, but this is changing. Angelina Jolie filmed locally for her World War II survival drama Unbroken and action star Dwayne Johnson will be filming his disaster movie San Andreas in Queensland. The country will also be getting a high-profile visit from hit US sitcom Modern Family. Australia offers a series of filming incentives including a 16.5 per cent location offset, but the government is under pressure to increase this figure to make the country more competitive. In the meantime, big-budget productions are being specifically targeted with additional one-off payments.
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TERRITORY IN FOCUS: LITHUANIA
Lithuania A Baltic Country Thinking Big
With a new tax incentive and newly accepted individual membership of the European Film Promotion network, 2014 may well prove to be a defining year for Lithuania’s growing film industry. By Laurence Boyce ›› With the consolidation of the Lithuanian Film Centre giving renewed focus and visibility to its industry on an international scale, and a number of home-grown successes on the festival circuit drawing attention to the promise of its filmmaking talent, the Baltic country has seen enviable growth in reputation and stature of late. Certainly, on the domestic front, the industry seems extremely healthy with the number of productions increasing year on year. 40 domestic films premiered in 2013—an increase of over 20 per cent on the previous year’s total—while the per capita cinema attendance (1.10 for 2013) is at its highest since 2003. Funding has also seemingly stabilised with the Lithuanian Film Centre‘s financing for film development, production and promotion standing at €1.954.340 in 2013 and €2.168.883 in 2014. And while this is perhaps not at the heights of 2008, it remains an impressive figure, given the impact of the global recession. This momentum has carried forward into the new year with the Lithuanian Film Centre having received 121 applications for its 2014 state-funding competition (75 – film production, 46 – pre-production): 40 applications more than the previous year. Importantly, Lithuania’s ambition to establish itself as a credible location for international filmmaking has recently been boosted by the long-awaited ratification of the country’s first official film-tax incentive scheme for foreign productions. Due to be formally
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Rolandas Kvietkauskas
“We welcome everyone who is interested in shooting in Lithuania. Finally we can offer a full package consisting of professional crews, great locations... high quality services for low price and tax incentives.”
launched during the European Film Market by Lithuanian Film Centre head, Rolandas Kvietkauskas, many regard the benefits of the incentive— currently up to 20 per cent of the total qualifying film spend—as the country’s best opportunity of establishing itself as an important player on the international production circuit. Kvietkauskas says: “We welcome everyone who is interested in shooting in Lithuania. Finally we can offer a full package consisting of professional crews that speak foreign languages; great unique locations as well as locations that can double for other European settings; a strong technical department; and high-quality services for low price and tax incentives.” Certainly, even before the introduction of the tax incentives, Lithuania has slowly been attracting a number of foreign productions to the country due to relatively cheap costs and a respected domestic labour force with experience of working on international productions. Capital Vilnius welcomed nine foreign productions in the last year which, amongst other things, saw it double as post-war Berlin in Swedish feature film Gangsters and Gentlemen and stand in for Washington DC and Rome for US ABC docudrama The Assets. For more information about Lithuanian tax incentives, visit the Lithuanian Film Centre during the European Film Market, located at Stand 112 in the Marriott Hotel, Potsdamer Platz.
FILMS TO WATCH Redirected
(Dir. Emilis Velyvis) An English language gangster flick starring Vinnie Jones, Redirected was released in Lithuanian cinemas at the start of 2014 to extremely impressive figures, selling more than 140,000 tickets in 11 days. Its comparative star power and English dialogue may also make it a huge success internationally.
The Gambler
(Dir. Ignas Jonynas) This stylish and slick thriller became the first Lithuanian feature to screen at San Sebastian and has had a healthy festival run, which includes winning the Special Jury Award at the 2013 Warsaw Film Festival.
Vanishing Waves
(Dir. Kristina Buozyte) While it debuted in 2012 and is currently at the end of its festival run, the impact of this genre film is still sending ripples through the industry. Vanishing Waves became the first Lithuanian film to be picked up by a North American distributor.
Santa
(Dir. Marius Ivaškevičius) Developed with the support of the MEDIA Programme and co-financed by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania, the Lithuanian Film Centre and the Finnish Film Foundation, this feature-length drama was released domestically by Vilnius-based distributor Meed Films, at the end of January 2014.
MOVIESCOPE AT THE EFM | FEBRUARY 2014
TERRITORY IN FOCUS: LITHUANIA
THE DATA LITHUANIA
The Gambler
2,958,182 Total population
Vanishing Waves
42 Number of cinemas
95 Number of screens
16.93% Market share of domestic films
40 The number of domestic films premiering in 2013 Santa
Redirected
LITHUANIA TAX INCENTIVES AT A GLANCE ›› Aimed at film production—feature, documentary, animation and TV film ›› Opportunity to receive up to 20% of total budget that has been spent in Lithuania ›› Minimum spend in Lithuania is fixed at €43,443 ›› Productions must meet cultural content and production criteria Statistics in this article have been provided by the Lithuanian Cinema Industry Association (CIA).
MOVIESCOPE AT THE EFM | FEBRUARY 2014
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FEATURE: THE REALITIES OF VOD
Lee Boardman and Christopher Dane in Phil Hawkins’, Being Sold
The Realities of VOD With changing viewing habits demanding a new approach to distribution, many are heralding Video Roger Jackson, On Demand as the saviour KinoNation of independent film. Nikki Baughan talks to Roger Jackson, CoFounder of Los Angeles based KinoNation about the financial sustainability of this new business model.
Q
KinoNation is currently researching the financial realities of VOD. How challenging has that been? The million-dollar question I still get asked is: ‘I’m a producer. I have this film. How much money it will make on VOD?’ And unfortunately it remains next to impossible to answer. We recently built our own metricbased ranking system in an attempt to provide an objective, numerically based ranking system that doesn’t have the subjectivity of a curator. ‘KinoFactor’ takes various aspects of a particular film—how many festivals it has played, the talent attached, the producer’s track record, IMDb rating, social media presence, etc.—and gives it a score out of 100. When we show that to producers, it can be a bit of a wake-up call. There aren’t many films that get 99 out of 100! It’s a useful tool for producers, and it’s a useful tool for our VOD outlets; because we have so many films in our catalogue, it’s hard for those who want to cherry-pick the ones they think will perform best.
Q
The Bachelorette
“We are living in a world with an overabundance of supply. It may be very difficult to hit a home run… but not impossible.” Roger Jackson, KinoNation
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How responsive are filmmakers and audiences to VOD revenue models which rely on advertising? Filmmakers are usually OK with it after they have had a little pause for thought. Are they likely to make a lot of money by having ads in their films? No, not really, but they certainly get far more viewers than they would have done. For example, Swiss-based Viewster.com is both ad-supported and transactional. For any movie in their growing catalogue of films, the viewer can either opt to watch for free, but with ads, or pay $3 or $4 to watch without ads. And of course something like 96 per cent of users choose the free, ad-supported option.
Q
With so many platforms out there, how should producers choose their VOD release strategy? Filmmakers should be sophisticated in their release date scheduling and consider
windowing. It’s still the way the studios do it now: theatrical, sometimes dayand-date VOD, sometimes even ultra releases, which is VOD before theatrical, followed by DVD and then the pay-per-view/subscriptionbased VOD window. Pricing also needs to be consistent. It just sends confusing signals to the market if it’s $2.99 on one site for a 48-hour rental and $3.99 on another site.
Q
You speak about windowing and marketing strategy, but how savvy do you think independent content creators are when it comes to VOD distribution? The level of understanding is definitely all over the place. The more sophisticated filmmakers definitely understand that there is such an abundance of supply and that just being on a VOD platform may get you some organic sales and views, but not enough. You’ve got to take it seriously, and you’ve got to be prepared to spend some money on marketing.
Q
Is VOD a financially sustainable way for the industry to evolve? In my opinion, VOD is, in the short term, not going to pick up the slack that has been lost on the DVD sales side. The margins on DVDs were huge, and we’re not seeing that with VOD. Of course, people are less inclined to spend the premium money on downloading a film for unlimited viewing because it’s not a tangible product on a shelf in your living room. The question that gets asked all the time is, will video on demand provide a viable income stream for filmmakers so they can actually make a living out of making movies? The answer is yes, for some, but no for most. The fact remains that if you’re making a narrative feature then it still has to have strong talent, strong marketing and a strong hook to be successful on VOD. We are living in a world with an overabundance of supply. It may be very difficult to hit a home run… but not impossible.
MOVIESCOPE AT THE EFM | FEBRUARY 2014
adv moviescope-1_Opmaak 1 24-01-14(04) 11:08 Pagina 1
FROM THE NETHERLANDS @ GENERATION ABOVE US ALL
FINN
Directed by Frans Weisz Produced by Flinck Film Sales: Attraction Distribution Generation Kplus
Directed by Eugenie Jansen Produced by De Productie Generation 14plus
A CHRISTMOOSE STORY
Directed by Lourens Blok Produced by Lemming Film Sales: Attraction Distribution Generation Kplus
your Dutch film connection
SUPERNOVA
Directed by Tamar van den Dop Produced by Revolver in co-production with IJswater Films Generation 14plus
international@eyefilm.nl | www.international.eyefilm.nl
FEATURE: MARKET BUZZ
As the European Film Market kicks off, MOVIESCOPE selects some of the hottest titles on offer from sales companies across the world. By Liza Foreman and Rinaldo Quacquarini NORTH AMERICAN SELLERS ›› The Solution Entertainment Group is presenting the new title, Infinitely Polar Bear, which premiered at Sundance. Maya Forbes directs Mark Ruffalo and Zoe Saldana in this film about a family holding it together in the late 1970s. Cameron, a bipolar father (Ruffalo), has had a nervous breakdown that leaves him unemployable, and Maggie, a hardworking mother (Saldana), can’t make ends meet. When Maggie decides to accept a scholarship to pursue her MBA in New York, she must leave her daughters in Boston with their now somewhat convalesced father. ›› FilmNation is offering buyers A Most Violent Year, to be directed by J. C. Chandor. The ensemble cast includes Jessica Chastain, Oscar Isaac, and Ashley Williams. The story follows the owner of a heating-oil business who fights to stay afloat when it comes under attack from his competition. The company is also handling international rights to thriller The Whole Truth; Daniel Craig is signed to star in the screenplay by Nicholas Kazan. ›› Voltage Pictures is at the EFM with A Tale of Love and Darkness, a package starring and to be directed by Natalie Portman whose Handsomecharlie Films is producing with Ram Bergman Productions. The period drama is based on the memoirs of Amos Oz, a writer, journalist, and advocate of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. ›› The Exchange is packaging the period drama Ithaca. Meg Ryan is attached to star in and direct the film, which Sam Shepard and Jack Quaid will co-star in for producers Playtone. Set in a small town in California, a 14-year-old is determined to be the fastest bicycle telegraph messenger ever. His older brother has gone to war, leaving him to take care of the family. The Los Angeles based company is also packaging Men With No Fear, an action thriller which stars Nicolas Cage. Paco Cabezas directs with Bryan Singer producing. The story follows a vengeful
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conman who struggles to win his estranged son back from the mob kingpin who had him arrested. ›› Mister Smith Entertainment will present the Jesse Owens biopic Race. Stephen Hopkins directs British actor John Boyega, and focuses on Owens’ record-breaking appearance at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. ›› IM Global will present The Line, a suspense thriller to be penned by Sang Kyu Kim (The Walking Dead). The story follows a corrupt border crossing agent who must decide what is more important when he discovers a young, illegal boy who escaped a cartel hit on the border between the US and Mexico. ›› Sierra / Affinity is packaging Tumbledown, a romantic comedy starring Jason Sudeikis, Rebecca Hall, Blythe Danner, and Joe Manganiello. The story revolves around a woman who begins to move on with her life after the death of her husband, hitting it off with a New York writer.
›› Highland Film Group is in Berlin with worldwide sales on fresh pickup Sanctuary by Gonzalo LopezGallego. The Los Angeles based company will also be premiering action adventure pic Kid Cannabis by John Stockwell and thriller Poker Night by Greg Francis. Both features star Ron Perlman.
Cocaine Cowboys
›› Arclight Films will present Paper Planes 3D,, a family film starring Sam Worthington. An 11-year old boy raised in a remote town in Australia sees his life forever change when he wins a place in the Paper Plane Championships. Other Arclight titles include the thriller Reclaim, starring John Cusack, Ryan Phillippe and Rachelle Lefevre. Titles from its Darclight Films division include Submerged; Mario Van Peebles, Jonathan Bennett and Talulah Riley star in a tale of murder and kidnapping. ›› Myriad Pictures is selling You’re Not You,, from director George C. Wolfe. The cast includes Hilary Swank, Emmy Rossum, Josh Duhamel, and Marcia Gay Harden. The story centres on the
MOVIE MOVIESCOPE AT THE EFM | FEBRUARY 2014
FEATURE: MARKET BUZZ
Lone Survivor
Pelé
Cesar Chavez
relationship between Kate (Swank), a woman who has been immobilised by ALS, and Bec (Rossum), the aimless and self-absorbed college student she hires to be her caregiver.
dirt farm, and Ricky, an outlaw drifter. When Janey’s grandfather commits suicide, she is forced to move in with a farm family where she barely escapes being raped. After badly injuring her attacker, she flees the town and meets the dashing criminal Ricky, the two embarking on a cross-country journey.
›› Mexican outfit Mundial is selling international rights to the Berlinale Special title Cesar Chavez from director Diego Luna. Michael Peña, John Malkovich, America Ferrera, Rosario Dawson and Wes Bentley star in the story of the famed civil rights leader and labour organiser torn between his duties as a husband and father and his commitment to securing a living wage for farm workers. ›› Exclusive Media will be showing new footage from Pelé from directors and writers Michael Zimbalist and Jeff Zimbalist. The story follows the legendary footballer, Edson Arantes do Nascimento, who grew up in the dangerous favelas of Brazil and eventually became the greatest football player of all time. Exclusive is also presenting first-time footage from The Woman In Black: Angel Of Death. Tom Harper directs Jeremy Irvine and Phoebe Fox in this sequel which picks up as a group of schoolchildren are evacuated from London to escape the Blitz. At Eel Marsh House, the children begin acting strangely and it is discovered that the group has awoken a dark force.
Other People’s Children
MOVIESCOPE AT THE EFM | FEBRUARY 2014 MOVIE
›› International Film Trust will present Seasons of Dust, with a cast including Robert Redford, Ewan McGregor, Kristen Stewart and James Franco. Tim Blake Nelson directs this film about Janey, a headstrong girl from a
›› XYZ Films is selling The Dead Lands. Toa Fraser directs James Rolleston, Lawrence Makoare and Te Kohe Tuhaka in this film about Hongi, a Maori chieftain’s adolescent son, who is outnumbered as he fights to avenge his father’s murder. He must fight past the feared and tabooed Dead Lands with the help of an unlikely ally, a ruthless fighter named ‘The Warrior’. ›› IM Global has arrived in Berlin with M. Night Shyamalan’s Philadelphia-based thriller Labor Of Love. The director is in negotiations to re-team with Bruce Willis on the project, which centres on a Philadelphia bookstore owner who regrets never having told the love of his life his true feelings before she was lost in a tragic accident. ›› Shoreline Entertainment brings Liz Hinlein’s Other People’s Children. The drama follows the life of a young filmmaker as she gets sucked into the dangerous life of a mysterious homeless man. Chad Michael Murray, Diane Marshall-Green and Michael Mosley star. ›› Synchronicity Entertainment will present the market premiere at the EFM of the Sundance title Cooties. Elijah Wood stars in this film about a mysterious virus borne from
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FEATURE: MARKET BUZZ
chicken nuggets that hits an isolated elementary school, transforming the children into a feral swarm of mindless cannibals. Synchronicity will also present the market premiere of Gravy from director James Roday. Lily Cole stars, as a trio of costumed misfits seize a Mexican cantina and force the staff to engage in a late night of gaming, food and drink.
selling Lone Survivor from Peter Berg. Based on a book by Marcus Luttrell and Patrick Robinson and starring Mark Wahlberg, Taylor Kitsch and Emile Hirsch, the story follows four Navy SEALs tasked with the mission to capture a notorious Taliban leader, who struggle to survive when their mission is compromised. The film opened at number one at the US box office.
›› MonteCristo is selling Kessler’s Lab from director Brenda Urquhart, a sci-fi thriller set in a top-secret drug-testing facility. When Martin Kessler’s daughter Jenny dies, amongst scores of other teenagers due to a mood-stabilising drug, the scientist designs a trial for which he clones the girl 10 times. Now only four remain… and counting.
›› Canada’s Entertainment One hopes to scare up some sales with The Babadook, Jennifer Kent’s feature film debut about a single mother struggling to discipline her violent young son, while plagued by dreams of a monster she believes is coming to kill them both.
›› New York based Magnolia Pictures are touting the sequel to 2012’s horror anthology, The ABCs Of Death, and Cocaine Cowboys Reloaded, a feature-length documentary on the Miami drug scene. Currently in production, The ABCs of Death 2 showcases the work of 26 directors including Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado (Big Bad Wolves), Alejandro Brugués (Juan of the Dead) and Vincenzo Natali (Splice, Cube). ›› Foresight Unlimited presents And So It Goes, from director Rob Reiner. Michael Douglas and Diane Keaton star in this film about an egocentric realtor’s life which is turned upside down when he takes in a granddaughter he never knew about, and unexpectedly falls in love with his neighbour. The company is also
›› Aldamisa brings Jon Favreau’s Chef to market. A man loses his chef role and starts up a food truck to reclaim his artistic promise, somehow reclaiming his estranged family. The company has also completed Some Like It Cold from director Evgeniy Nevskiy. ›› Premiere Entertainment Group will tempt buyers with Grand Lake, a drama from writer Casey DeFranco with Bruce Beresford attached to direct Jeremy Irons and Sarah Jessica Parker. The Encino-based company will also premiere Austrian drama, The Silent Mountain, about a young First World War soldier who fights his way through the Alps to rescue his Italian girlfriend. Other titles in the company’s line-up include The Night Crew with Luke Goss and Danny Trejo, and Afternoon Delight starring Juno Temple.
Kessler’s Lab
The Night Crew
Cooties
Infinitely Polar Bear
ASIAN SELLERS ›› Media Asia will present Don’t Go Breaking My Heart. Johnnie To directs Louis Koo, Miriam Yeung, Gao Yuanyuan, Vic Chou and Daniel Wu in this film about a man who loses his girlfriend in a love triangle then falls in love with someone else. ›› Hong Kong’s Fortissimo Films will sell The Midnight After, a post-apocalyptic
20
thriller which will play in Berlin’s Panorama section. Directed by Hong Kong’s Fruit Chan (Dumplings), the thriller tells the story of a group of latenight minibus passengers who discover that they are the only people left alive in the city. The Hong Kong star cast includes Simon Yam, Kara Hui and Lam Suet, and newer generation actors Wong Younam, Janice Man, and Chiu Tien-you.
›› CJ Entertainment have lined up a premiere for their Pang Eun-jin directed drama, Way Back Home. Jeon Do-yeon stars as a caring mother who finds herself plunged into a legal ordeal involving drugs, thousands of miles from home. ›› Fine Cut will present Haemoo. Based on true events, the thriller drama follows
the crew of a fishing ship as they attempt to smuggle in illegal migrants, with catastrophic results. Shim Sung-bo directs. ›› South Korea’s Mirovision will present A Fish, directed by Park Hong-min, which follows the story of a professor who must battle his wife’s gradual transformation into a possessed shaman.
MOVIESCOPE AT THE EFM | FEBRUARY 2014
FEATURE: MARKET BUZZ
The Physician
A Thousand Times Goodnight
Supernova
EUROPEAN SELLERS ›› Paris-based Elle Driver is in Berlin with 9 Months Stretch, which will make its market premiere. Albert Dupontel directs this film about Ariane Felder, a young judge and hardened single woman, who becomes pregnant. The father is revealed to be a criminal who’s being pursued for a terrible crime. Ariane, who can’t remember a thing, tries to understand what could possibly have happened and what the future holds. The company will also present Local God by Gustavo Hernandez, which follows a sequence of tragic events that inspire a young rock band to deal with the trauma through music.
The Forest
MOVIESCOPE AT THE EFM | FEBRUARY 2014
›› French heavyweight Gaumont is at the EFM with Breathe, from director Mélanie Laurent. Charlie, a teenager caught up in a whirlwind of friends, emotions, and convictions, sees her life change when a new girl enters her world. Gaumont will also premiere Mea Culpa, which follows two good cops who get into trouble through a drinkdriving incident. ›› Pathé International’s EFM slate includes Suffragette, with Carey Mulligan and Helena Bonham Carter. Sarah Gavron directs this film about the foot soldiers of the early feminist movement. Other Pathé titles include Two Men in Town from director Rachid Bouchareb. Starring Forest Whitaker, Harvey Keitel and Brenda Blethyn, it tells the story of a troubled youth who is being released from prison and discovers Islam. Also screening is Quantum Love with Sophie Marceau. Pierre has been happily married for 15 years with two children, until one evening he meets Elsa, with whom he shares a strong mutual attraction. ›› Kinology arrives with A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night by Ana Lily Amirpour. Billed as the first Iranian vampire western, the thriller was a surprise hit at Sundance. ›› Funny Balloons brings Ablations, a thriller
about memory loss and organ trafficking by first time feature director, Arnold de Parscau. ›› MK2 is premiering Bruce LaBruce’s Gerontophilia, which centres on an 18-yearold’s unusual attraction for the elderly. ›› Arri Worldsales brings documentary Making of Heimat by directors Anja Pohl and Jörg Adolph, which follows the peculiar world of filmmaking from the perspective of Edgar Reitz. The Munich-based company is also premiering controversial German euthanasia drama Zurich, by director Frederik Steiner, in the market. ›› The Match Factory’s slate includes no less than 10 premieres, including Indian drama Qissa by Anup Singh, Praia do Futuro by Karim Aïnouz and narrative documentary Last Hijack by directors Tommy Pallotta and Femke Wolting. ›› Bac Films have begun touting Ardor, Pablo Fendrik’s jungle-set modern-day western starring Gael García Bernal and Alice Braga. The company will also be screening its first promo for French drama Run by Philippe Lacôte and first footage of writer- director Vincent Mariette’s comedy, Fool Circle.
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FEATURE: MARKET BUZZ
›› Wild Bunch is premiering French comedy Three Brothers: The Return by Bernard Campan and Lou Ye’s Mandarin feature Blind Massage. Zach Braff ’s Wish I Was Here is also on offer.
premieres are given to: Lech Majewski’s Polish drama Field of Dogs; Croatian comedy Cowboys by Tomislav Mrši´c ; Serbian drama Barbarians by Ivan Iki´c ; and French erotic drama Rain Doll by Jean-Louis Daniel.
›› Leading German sales company Global Screen will tempt buyers with Erik Poppe’s war photographer drama A Thousand Times Goodnight starring Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Juliette Binoche. The company is also giving market premieres to drama Beloved Sisters by Dominik Graf and The Black Brother, a German-Italian family pic set in 19th century Switzerland.
›› Swedish outfit The Yellow Affair heads to market with Canadian art-house drama Hard Drive by William D. MacGillivray and English language drama Bluebird by Lance Edmands.
›› Ida Martins’ Media Luna will be at the market with Argentinian drama Atlántida by Inés María Barrionuevo, fresh from its Sundance debut. ›› Loïc Magneron’s Wide is in Berlin with three films in official selection and four market premieres. Up for selection are: N – The Madness of Reason by Peter Krüger (Forum Section); Dutch drama Supernova by Tamar van den Dop (Generation Section); and Nayak by Satyajit Ray (Berlinale Classics). Market
›› Svensk brings the Danish epic 1864 by Ole Bornedal and Swedish drama, Nobody Owns Me, an adaptation of the novel by Asa Linderborg starring Mikael Persbrandt as a struggling single father. Kjell-Åke Andersson directs. ›› DeAPlaneta is giving Lucas Figueroa’s Spanish horror Viral a market screening in a line-up which includes Óscar Aibar’s Spanish Civil War drama The Forest and Alejandro Ezcurdia’s thriller Three-60. ›› Mar Abadin and Marina Fuentes are in town with 6 Sales to give Richard Raymond’s Desert Dancer a market premiere at EFM. The drama, written by Jon Croker, stars Freida Pinto and
Reece Ritchie in the true story of Iranian dancer Afshin Ghaffarian, who risked his life in order to fulfil his dream. The company is also touting Irish comedy Gold, starring James Nesbitt. ›› Also from Spain, Imagina is selling recently completed documentary El Somni by writerdirector Franc Aleu while Film Factory Entertainment is hoping for market success with Spanish drama Ismael, directed by Marcelo Piñeyro. ›› Les Films Du Losange will give If You Don’t, I Will a market premiere. The comedy, written and directed by Sophie Fillières, features a cast that includes Emmanuelle Devos, Mathieu Amalric and Nelson Delapalme. ›› Beta Cinema is at the Berlinale aiming for sales of competition titles Stations of the Cross and Jack, and the Panorama Special Stereo, as well as the market premiere of The Physician starring Ben Kingsley. Dietrich Brueggemann’s Stations of the Cross is a story of devotion and radical faith, portraying a profoundly religious teenager who devotes her life to Jesus. Edward Berger’s Jack is a stirring
UK SELLERS ›› Altitude Film Sales presents Cutter Hodierne’s feature debut Fishing Without Nets to EFM, hot off the heels of winning the US Dramatic Directing Award at Sundance. The London-based sales company is also offering Blood Mountain in Berlin. The action drama, which is currently in pre-production, is being presented to buyers with Benedict Cumberbatch attached to star and Sergei Bodrov confirmed to direct. ›› Hugo Grumbar and Tim Haslam’s Embankment Films will be hoping to entice buyers with a line-up which includes Ron Scalpello’s deep-sea thriller Pressure and Jon Wright’s science fiction actioner, Our Robot Overlords. ›› WestEnd Films has arrived in Berlin
The Search For Happiness
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with a line-up which includes two projects by David Gordon Green: Joe, starring Nicolas Cage and Tye Sheridan, and Manglehorn with Al Pacino and Holly Hunter, currently in postproduction. ›› Bankside will tout buyers with Hector and The Search For Happiness, a romantic comedy from Peter Chelsom starring Simon Pegg, Toni Collette, Rosamund Pike, Christopher Plummer, Stellan Skarsgård and Jean Reno. The company will also present Michael Petroni’s Backtrack with Adrien Brody and Sam Neill. The film follows a psychologist whose life is thrown into chaos when he discovers his patients are all ghosts of people who died in an accident 20 years prior.
›› Goldcrest Films International is presenting Brooklyn Bridge, with Daniel Radcliffe attached to star. The period drama is to be directed by Douglas McGrath with Killer Films producing. The story follows a brilliant but inexperienced engineer who is left to oversee the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge when his father passes away. ›› Genesis Film Sales is presenting The Happytime Murders, with Katherine Heigl. Brian Henson directs this crime comedy, which takes place in a world in which humans and puppets co-exist, with the puppets viewed as secondclass citizens. When the puppet cast of a 1980s children’s TV show called The Happytime Gang are murdered one by one, a disgraced LAPD detective turned private-eye puppet takes on the case. ›› Content Film is bringing The Diabolical, to be directed by Alistair Legrand, to Berlin. Madison and her children are awoken nightly by an increasingly strange and intense presence. She desperately seeks help from her scientist boyfriend, who begins a hunt to destroy the violent spirit that paranormal experts are too frightened to take on. Content is also touting Redirected, a story of four friends turned first-time robbers, who get stranded in Eastern Europe through a series of
Fishing Without Nets
misadventures. They have to overcome hitmen, whores, corrupt cops, smugglers and more, all while rediscovering each other as friends. The cast includes Vinnie Jones, Scot Williams, Gil Darnell and Oliver Jackson. ›› Hanway Films is selling international rights to The Unknown Known, the Errol Morris documentary about former Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld, which will play at the festival. Drawing from interviews and never-beforeseen material from Rumsfeld’s private archive, Morris examines Rumsfeld’s role in American history from the Watergate era to the Global War on Terror. Hanway is also selling 20,000 Days on Earth. Starring Nick Cave, the film is directed by Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard and marks the singer and musician’s 20,000th day on the planet.
MOVIESCOPE AT THE EFM | FEBRUARY 2014
FEATURE: MARKET BUZZ
tale about a boy who learns early on to assume responsibility. Maximilian Erlenwein’s thriller Stereo hovers between delusion and reality and unites German stars Jürgen Vogel and Moritz Bleibtreu for the first time.
›› Versatile have added Blind to their EFM line-up following writer director Eskil Vogt’s Screenwriting Award win at Sundance.
›› Latido once again brings a raft of market premieres including black comedy Clownwise; Miguel Cohan’s crime thriller Betibú; and Santiago Tabernero’s Spanish drama Inside Love. ›› Danish outfit TrustNordisk is attending the market with Shamer’s Daughter. Dina, a young girl who has inherited her mother’s supernatural abilities, sees the powers as a curse and longs for a normal life. But when the sole heir to the throne of Dunark is wrongfully accused of the murders of his family, Dina’s mother is enlisted under false pretences to make him confess and is taken prisoner. It falls to Dina to uncover the truth. Kenneth Kainz directs. TrustNordisk will also be looking for pre-sales on Susan Bier’s latest project, A Second Chance. The drama stars Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Maria Bonnevie.
Desert Dancer
Blind
invites you to festival screenings
street art
comedy CZ, Release Year: 2014
CZ-PL cop., Release Year: 2013
Base on trud th story
World´s first film made (as if) by a kid.
CZ, Release Year: 2014
To SEE the SEA
Gra AdvenfftIturI,e vs Crim.e
Selected for Goa, 44th International Film Festival of India
The dramatic collision of human arrogance with a simple longing for a life in harmony
Some people do graffiti because they want to make the world look better
Two 12 year old boys discover an unpredictable secret with a camera in their hands
Venue: CinemaxX 19 Feb 6th, 15:50
Venue: CinemaxX 16 Feb 9th, 14:45
Venue: CinemaxX 2 Feb. 9th, 19:20
For futher information, please contact Email: pavla@bioillusion.com, Cell: +420 606 143 106, or visit Czech Film Center c/o Central European Cinema at the Stand No.140, Martin Gropius Bau, Niederkirchnerstraße 7, Berlin Mitte
inzerce berlin 2014.indd 1
MOVIESCOPE AT THE EFM | FEBRUARY 2014
30.1.2014 17:14:22
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FEATURE: EUROPEAN STUDIO PROFILE
SPOTLIGHT: ALVERNIA STUDIOS Europe’s most modern and complete full-service studio aims high with state-of-the-art facilities plus a new service-based investment scheme that promises growth. By Chris Patmore
Alvernia Studios’ K7 Dubbing Theatre (above) and music scoring studio (top)
›› Located about half an hour’s drive from Krakow, Alvernia Studios is a huge cluster of interconnected, domed buildings that look more at home on an arid lunar surface than in the southern Polish countryside. The brainchild of Stanislaw Tyczynski, one of the country’s foremost entrepreneurs and former owner of Poland’s first private commercial radio broadcaster RMF FM, the studio is a unique yet functional mix of art nouveau meets HR Giger. Tyczynski designed all aspects of the complex, and the result is exceptional attention to detail, both architecturally and in the extent of facilities and technology on offer. Touted as a filmmaking one-stop-shop, the facility is able to combine cutting-edge film services with financial investment in selected domestic and international co-productions, including the 2012 Nicholas Jarecki helmed US-Polish co-production Arbitrage, and the announced team-up with US producer Brett Ratner for Alvernia’s in-house production, Magnitude 9. Indeed, Alvernia’s involvement on over 50 features and more than 200
commercials, video games and music projects since opening in 2010, is indicative of both the studio’s aspirations and breadth of on-site facilities and talent offered. FACILITIES The studio holds two main dome-shaped sound stages each measuring approximately 21,500 sq. ft. in size and 52.5 ft. in height, with one offering the world’s largest shadeless spherical blue screen. By opting, amongst others, for a mobile 24 x 16 megapixel Vicon camera set-up, Alvernia showcases its focus on investing heavily in ultramodern technology. While the whole complex is equipped with the latest digital technology, the studio is also uniquely able to accommodate 16mm and 35mm celluloid shoots through their on-site Kodak Imagecare certified processing laboratory—one of Europe’s most modern—and digital intermediate studio, with Truelight Theatre Certification, which is capable of processing film of 4K resolution in real time. On the audio side, Alvernia offers world-class
“I have produced films in several countries but when I visited Alvernia Studios, I was very pleasantly surprised about the quality and it’s one stop character. After speaking to Mr Tyczynski I realised the unique opportunities it could offer to international co-productions” San Fu Maltha, Fu Works Productions.
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facilities that include a music scoring studio large enough for a 100-piece orchestra and a Dolby Premier Studio certified final mix studio, with full audio post-production facilities, including ADR. Thanks to the application of Source Connect Pro technology, the studio is able to work remotely. The studio has recently completed recording the final compositions of the late pianist and celebrated Polish composer, Wojciech Kilar (The Pianist, Bram Stoker’s Dracula). Other on-site post-production services include colour correction, visual effects and all kinds of deliverables. All post-production services are connected to each other and the rest of the studio via a secure, high-speed network. For exterior shoots, the studio also offers a substantial wooded backlot supported by fully equipped mobile units including cameras, lighting, grip, location sound, motion control rigs and catering. For location shoots, the studios can additionally source access to a diverse range of locations and landscapes across Poland depending on each production’s needs. GROWTH To help feed its growing post-production business, the studio recently announced the launch of a new services-based investment scheme with leading Dutch production company Fu Works Productions. The scheme, which aims to bring between two to three low-budget genre films to the studio each year, is able to provide productions, which commit to using either of Alvernia’s production or post-production facilities, with up to 50 per cent of the budget. With on-site expansion currently underway, a newly opened office in India, and work on the recently released Bollywood blockbuster Bhaag Milkha Bhaag under its belt, Alvernia’s steady progress as Poland’s international production hub confirms the country’s confidence and ability to compete alongside more established destinations on the global production stage.
MOVIESCOPE AT THE EFM | FEBRUARY 2014
stop in toronto and start something big. In 2013, 4743 industry delegates from over 80 countries attended the Toronto International Film Festival, resulting in over 45 film sales. This year, make it happen in Toronto. Registration opens May 1. Visit tiff.net/industry to learn about the services and programming that we provide.
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FEATURE: THE CURRENT STATE OF INDEPENDENT FILM
Wish I Was Here
5 Cold Truths From An Uninspiring Sundance Too many films, not enough distribution, crowdfunding is a mixed blessing and movie star politics. By Sharon Waxman, TheWrap.com If you weren’t at Sundance this year, it’s just as well. The lack of a breakout, buzzy film that had everyone talking tells us something about the challenged state of independent film. While the festival had glimmers of excitement, the movies were – in the aggregate – interesting but not inspiring, thought-provoking but not thrilling. In short, not essential enough to grab a distracted public’s attention. Here are five lessons we’ve learned about the current state of independent film.
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There are TOO MANY movies being made We heard this remark from the New York Times’ Manohla Dargis on the Sunday before the festival, we heard it from leading finance agent Jay Cohen of Gersh at The Wrap’s industry panel, and we see it in the middling quality of too many films that are not getting bought. The production tools that make filmmaking accessible to just about anybody are resulting in a glut of films that aren’t nearly good enough to attract an audience of consequence. How can we make
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it stop? Barriers to entry, it turns out, are not necessarily a bad thing. It means that to get your film made, you have to really, really be committed to life as a storyteller, and that you will endure a lot for the privilege of telling it. That winnowing process is now missing.
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Crowdfunding is creating a bottleneck The wonderful financing platforms of Kickstarter and Indiegogo are fueling dozens of new projects. That’s a great thing for filmmakers, and a big problem for the indie business. Because now hundreds of movies are getting financed that have no prayer of financial return for the filmmaker. Yes, there is distribution on VOD and Vimeo and Netflix in addition to Sony Classics and The Weinstein Co. Good luck paying your rent with that revenue.
3
Movie Stars + Crowdfunding = Political Problems for Movie Executives This is a corollary to the previous. Crowdfunding is encouraging movies stars like Zach Braff to take the plunge into a new
financing method, encouraging their fans to contribute to the budget of the film they’ve always wanted to make that the system will not greenlight. But if the film isn’t good, and Wish I Was Here was decidedly mixed among critics, movie executives who are otherwise in business with the stars are in uncomfortable situations. They want to make the next David Fincher or Lena Dunham project with them, not distribute their indie pet. Makes for awkward moments on Main Street.
4 Hundreds of movies are getting financed that have no prayer of financial return for the filmmaker
We need distribution for short form films that also helps the audience to know what to watch Increasingly, the best talent is producing short-form content – Lucy Walker’s short doc at Sundance this year, Lion’s Mouth Opens is a good example – but where can we ever see these movies? We need a proper distribution platform and viewing habit to see them, and a curator to tell us which are worthwhile. This is an opportunity waiting to be realized.
5
There are many new buyers, but they don’t pay much So we now supposedly have a wide array of distribution channels: traditional theatrical, VOD, streaming on Netflix/Hulu/Amazon and the like, iTunes, Snagfilms, Indieflix. The problem: none of it pays enough to support a proper filmmaking culture. Do we need to start thinking about a government-subsidized model like they have in Europe? (Short answer: that doesn’t work either. Their films aren’t any better.) New ideas, anyone?
MOVIESCOPE AT THE EFM | FEBRUARY 2014
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FEATURE Q&A: ARCLIGHT FILMS
CLAY EPSTEIN SVP SALES & ACQUISITIONS: ARCLIGHT FILMS Arclight Films has made an impressive mark on the industry with sales of over 130 films in 10 years, including the 2004 Best Picture Oscar winner Crash and 2007 Golden Globe Best Picture Nominee, Bobby. Liza Foreman talks to SVP, Clay Epstein about the company’s evolving business.
Q
What is your current position and background? I’m currently the senior vice president of sales and acquisitions at Arclight Films. Prior to joining Arclight Films, I worked in sales and distribution for more than 15 years. My career centres on the worldwide sales, marketing and distribution of feature films of all kinds. My current focus is to bring our esteemed, varied and commercial line-up to a global audience by securing the best distribution partners available. In addition to finding deals for our current projects, I also look for production partners as well as new and exciting acquisitions to work with in order to bring theatrically driven films to audiences on a global scale.
Q
What are some of the biggest acquisitions you have worked on in the past? Acquisitions in the past include a variety of films with A-list and award-winning talent as well as up-and-comers who have risen through the ranks. I am currently working on several large-scale acquisitions, including: Predestination starring Ethan Hawke; Left Behind starring Nicholas Cage; Tell starring Milo Ventimiglia, Katee Sackhoff and Jason Lee; and Paper Planes starring Sam Worthington.
Q
What are you looking to acquire currently? Commercially-driven projects with talented filmmakers at the helm, well-developed scripts, high production value, and films that feature internationally recognised stars.
One thing that remains constant is that content is king, and quality trumps quantity almost every time. 28
Typically, I look for budgets between $10–35m but there are always exceptions.
Q
How do you see Berlin for acquisitions in general? Ask me after the market.
Q
What type of product are we seeing there this year; what are the hot titles? Films that are driven by top talent. Cast is king, like always, as you’ll see in the majority of films succeeding in the marketplace. From our roster, features such as Reclaim, Outcast, Presentation and Left Behind are some of our hot titles.
Clay Epstein, Arclight Films
Q
What other markets do you go to? All of them. Because our films cross industry segments, our sales team attends a variety of markets in order to ensure our lineup has the best partners possible to fit their specific needs. Those markets include but are not limited to: AFM; Berlin; Cannes; Venice; Toronto; HK Filmart; MIPTV; and MIPCOM.
Q
How has the business changed in terms of price? Is more being done online? The business has changed drastically over the last few years primarily due to the increasing presence of the Internet and online distribution platforms. It is becoming more and more necessary to focus on two major aspects: content being king and effective marketing. Although the Internet has flooded the market with content and opened up distribution options for films that didn’t exist 10-15 years ago, it doesn’t necessarily make it easier for films to make their way to global audiences. In fact, the overabundance of content and piracy has made it more difficult for discerning film sales and distribution professionals to sort through the exponentially increasing projects; there’s only so much time in a day. One thing that remains constant, perhaps since the birth of the film industry, is that content is king, and quality trumps quantity almost every time.
Tell
Reclaim
MOVIESCOPE AT THE EFM | FEBRUARY 2014
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FEATURE Q&A: INTERNATIONAL FILM TRUST
CHRISTIAN DE GALLEGOS PRESIDENT, INTERNATIONAL FILM TRUST Some Velvet Morning
Christian De Gallegos, International Film Trust
With a number of highprofile titles on its slate for EFM, International Film Trust president Christian de Gallegos is expecting solid pre-sales in Berlin from Latin American and Russian buyers. By Liza Foreman
Q
What is International Film Trust? We are an international sales and distribution company operated by producers for producers. The company was launched in Cannes last year by Benaroya Pictures and Miscellaneous Entertainment, with an initial fund of $15 million earmarked to acquire and provide minimum guarantees on third party productions for international sales. With over 20 years of experience in producing, finance, international sales and distribution, we have the knowledge and relationships to cultivate strategic partnerships with A-list producers and filmmakers.
Q
You previously worked as a Vice President at Voltage Pictures where you handled international distribution for over 70 films, among them The Hurt Locker, The Company You Keep, and The Dallas Buyers Club. Which type of buyers do you find in Berlin? Distributors from most International territories have made Berlin a priority as sellers often announce projects year-round, without waiting for Cannes or the American Film Market. As Chinese New Year falls around the European
Cymbeline
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Exists
Film Market, a lot of Asian buyers won’t attend so we catch up with them at Hong Kong Filmart in March.
Q
How important is the market or how does it differ from other markets? EFM has become a solid market to pre-sell new films as buyers plan their annual budgets with Berlin in mind.
Q
What territories are up or down when it comes to sales? Trends from the past year are continuing: Italy and Spain are suffering. The United Kingdom, Germany, Benelux and Scandinavia are a lot more cautious. And the deflated Yen has posed a problem for Japan. Latin America and Russia are however still aggressive.
Q
What is your focus for the next year? To continue to present buyers with relevant and appropriately priced films with great theatrical potential, while still looking for one or two blockbusters that will hopefully expand our brand to the next level.
EFM has become a solid market to pre-sell new films as buyers plan their annual budgets with Berlin in mind.
Q
What are your key titles in Berlin? Our slate this year includes Cymbeline starring Ethan Hawke, Ed Harris, Milla Jovovic, Dakota Johnson and Penn Badgley; comedy King Of The Kastle, starring Clive Owen and Academy Award nominee Jacki Weaver, produced by Jonathan Gordon (Silver Linings Playbook) and Michael Benaroya; the action thriller Cell to be directed by Tod Williams (Paranormal Activity 2) starring John Cusack; Neil LaBute’s Some Velvet Morning, starring Stanley Tucci and Alice Eve; and the horror thriller Exists acquired from producers Robin Cowie (The Blair Witch Project), Jane Fleming (The Frozen Ground), Mark Ordesky (The Lord Of The Rings), and Andy Jenkins.
MOVIESCOPE AT THE EFM | FEBRUARY 2014
The National Film & Video Foundation (NFVF) Is a statutory body mandated by parliament to spearhead the development of the South African film industry. The NFVF does this by funding the development and production of South African film content including documentaries, administering the certification process of co-production treaties, funding local film festivals and attendance by our filmmakers to international film festivals and markets and running various training programs for the film industry.
National Film and Video Foundation Tel: +27 11 483 0880 Fax: +27 11 483 0881 info@nfvf.co.za www.nfvf.co.za
FEATURE: DOCS ON DEMAND
American: The Bill Hicks Story
DOCS ON DEMAND For the sixth consecutive year, the European Documentary Network and European Film Market are hosting their annual networking initiative, ‘Meet the Docs’, during the Berlinale. Nikki Baughan talks to genre experts about the impact of VOD on the non-fiction film. ›› Video on demand has some way to go to replace traditional distribution models, with day-and-date release strategies still being regarded as occasional experiments and success stories like Arbitrage and Bachelorette—which both grossed more on VOD than at the box office — failing to usher in the predicted sea change. Yet, while some struggle to harness the full potential of digital distribution, documentary is one genre taking full advantage of the flexibility and reach of VOD. “Documentaries are seeing a massive renaissance on video on demand,” says Roger Jackson of KinoNation. “There has always been an audience for documentaries; it’s just that that audience is very scattered. VOD allows you to find that audience. The marketing strategy for a niche documentary is much easier than the marketing strategy for a drama or a romantic comedy.” One strong example of the power of VOD documentary distribution is the 2009 film American: The Bill Hicks Story. While it was 2010’s second highest-grossing documentary in the UK, the film reached its widest audience and full potential online, grossing $600,000 on VOD. And there are many others lining up in the hopes of replicating that success. Netflix are ramping up their first-run documentary strategy, having recently bought the Toronto award-winner The Square; Jehane Noujaim’s chronicle of the Egyptian protest movement will premiere exclusively on the network in all territories in 2014. While distributors and filmmakers are embracing on-demand distribution, the increasing number of documentaries that are making an impression on VOD is also indicative of the expectations of their audience, who are perhaps more accommodating of the smaller-
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screen experience. Which is not to say that all factual filmmakers have lost the appetite for seeing their film on the big screen, rather that on-demand is now an integral part of a release strategy. Indeed, one prominent documentary-maker who believes that VOD should run alongside theatrical distribution, rather than replace it, is Morgan Spurlock, whose 2011 film, The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, was released in just 18 theatres in the USA. “If you acquire a film for $25,000 or $50,000 and you’re able to make that back in two weeks or three weeks on a VOD run, like a lot of networks or distributors do, great,” Spurlock said in an interview with Indiewire. “But if you have a film that has a small theatrical release, you have a much larger investment once it comes to a VOD marketplace. You’re going to get much more attention about any film that goes into a movie theatre than you ever will about a film that just opens on VOD. VOD is still seen as a secondary marketplace, just as a VHS tape or a DVD used to be seen.” One who shares Spurlock’s caution about putting all of the documentary genre’s eggs
“I would hesitate about talking of a VOD revolution. What we are experiencing with VOD is an evolution” Ove Rishøj Jensen, the European Documentary Network
Netflix will premiere award-winning documentary The Square in 2014.
in the VOD basket is Ove Rishøj Jensen, film consultant at the European Documentary Network. “I don’t think VOD is taking over theatrical,” says Jensen. “The importance of having a theatrical release depends very much on the film you are working on. Some documentaries do have a theatrical distribution potential; others are better released in cinemas through special screenings and occasions.” Jensen does, however, appreciate the opportunities that VOD opens up in terms of connecting films with a wider audience. “Documentary filmmakers are very aware of the VOD possibilities and the potential to be in direct contact with an audience,” he says. “It is very important for documentary professionals to have a carefully planned strategy for their distribution. For the great majority of documentary professionals, their income is generated from other windows than VOD, and therefore they must also strategise their distribution according to this. “I would hesitate about talking of a VOD revolution,” he continues. “What we are experiencing with VOD is an evolution; it will over time influence how the [documentary] genre is distributed and formatted. What we still lack with VOD is to work with the formats in which documentaries are released. So far most documentaries have ‘just’ been put online via VOD in the same format as they were made for TV or cinema. But maybe the 58-minute TV format is not always the best format to release a documentary via VOD.”
MOVIESCOPE AT THE EFM | FEBRUARY 2014
MARKET SCREENINGS
Market Screenings Market Screenings listed as Part of the Festival Program only. For a full EFM screening schedule, visit efm-berlinale.de FEBRUARY 6 09:30 The Great Museum Austria, 94’, Documentary Section: Forum Dir: Johannes Holzhausen A look behind the scenes of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna: curators, technicians, restorers, taxidermists, marketing strategists and the management board at work. Sales: Wide CinemaxX 6 10:15 We Are Mari Pepa Mexico, 95’, Comedy/Drama Section: Generation 14plus Dir: Samuel Kishi Leopo Alex, a 16-year-old teenager living with his grandma has various plans to entertain himself during the summer: write a new song with his rock band, find a job and have his first sexual experience. Sales: FiGa Films dffb-Ki no 11:00 The Rice Bomber Taiwan, 115’, Drama Section: Panorama Dir: Cho Li Based on a true social event, The Rice Bomber depicts a series of bombing incidents in Taiwan a decade ago. Sales: Ablaze Image CinemaxX Studio 12 11:30 Thou Wast Mild and Lovely USA, 76’, Drama/Thriller Section: Forum Dir: Josephine Decker When Akin arrives at the farm, he finds his job. When Sarah opens her legs, she finds someone watching. When Jeremiah opens his mouth, frightening things come out of it. But what happens by the creek next to the cow? Sales: New Europe Film Sales CinemaxX 6 11:50 Beltracchi – The Art of Forgery Germany, 98’, Documentary
Section: German Cinema LOLA@Berlinale Dir: Arne Birkenstock A mesmerizing, thoughtprovoking yet surprisingly amusing documentary on the life of Wolfgang Beltracchi, who tricked the international art world for nearly 40 years by forging and selling paintings. Sales: Global Screen CinemaxX 2
There is nothing to keep Lila at her boarding school high up in the cold and foggy mountains. This 12- year-old girl doesn’t know who her father is but wants to find him. She sets out on a complicated quest for the truth. Sales: UDI – Urban Distribution International CinemaxX Studio 13
13:30 God Help the Girl UK, 111’, Musical Section: Generation 14plus Dir: Stuart Murdoch A musical film written and directed by Stuart Murdoch of Belle & Sebastian – is an uplifting story of renaissance, friendship and romance over a long, dream-like summer. Sales: HanWay Films CinemaxX 10
15:30 Los Ángeles Mexico/Germany, 97’, Drama/ Thriller Section: Forum Dir: Damian John Harper In order to support his family in Southern Mexico, Mateo (17) has to join the gang and leave for Los Angeles. Yet before he can depart, the leader of the local gang demands that Mateo commits a murder. Sales: Picture Tree International CinemaxX 6
13:45 Butter on the Latch USA, 72’ Section: Forum Dir: Josephine Decker Inspired by a Bulgarian folk song, this striking drama shows how two friends reconnect at a music festival deep in the forests of California. Sensual and euphoric to start with, the mood slowly darkens into hysteria and confusion. CinemaxX 6
Above Us All Netherlands, Belgium, 99’, Drama Section: Generation 14plus – Out of Competition Dir: Eugenie Jansen After the death of her Indigenous mother, the 11 year old Shay is taken by her Flemish father from Australia to Ypres, Belgium. In the surroundings, full of traces of the Great War, Shay tries to understand her mother’s death. Sales: New Europe Film Sales Parliament
14:20 Tape_13 Germany, 80’, Horror/Other Section: Perspektive Deutsches Kino Dir: Axel Stein Two young lovers travel across Germany. Somewhere in the volcanic Eifel Region they got lost and were never to be seen again. Sales: Rat Pack Filmproduktion GmbH CinemaxX Studio 19
16:30 The Physician Germany, 150’, Drama/Other Section: German Cinema LOLA@Berlinale Dir: Philipp Stölzl A breathtaking adventure set in 11th-century England and Persia in the tradition of great international bestselling european films such as The House of the Spirits, The Name of the Rose and Perfume: The Story of a Murder. Sales: Beta Cinema CineStar IMAX
15:00 Natural Sciences Argentina/France, 71’, Drama Section: Generation Kplus Dir: Matías Lucchesi
MOVIESCOPE AT THE EFM | FEBRUARY 2014
17:00 Holiday Ecuador/Argentina, 82’,
Coming-of-age/Drama Section: Generation 14plus Dir: Diego Araujo In a remote region in the Andes, shy Juan Pablo meets self assured Juano. A fragile romance evolves that transcends all class distinctions. Sales: m-appeal – Raspberry & Cream CinemaxX Studio 18 The Kidnapping of Michel Houellebecq France, 92’, Comedy/Drama Section: Forum Dir: Guillaume Nicloux On September 16th 2011, the media announces the kidnapping of Michel Houellebecq, winner of the 2010 Prix Goncourt. For a few days, excitement spreads into the literary and journalistic sphere. Sales: Le Pacte CinemaxX Studio 12 Unfriend Philippines, 93’, Drama Section: Panorama Dir: Joselito Altarejos A 15-year-old boy plans to kill his 17-year-old online boyfriend hoping he could get the love he had been dreaming of. Sales: Fortissimo Films CineStar 6 17:10 Journey to the West France/Taiwan, 56’, Other Section: Panorama Special Dir: Tsai Ming-liang Taking Buddhist ritual centuries old steps, a monk is walking extremely slowly in the busy streets of Marseille and Noailles market. Sales: UDI – Urban Distribution International CinemaxX Studio 16 17:30 Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter USA, 105’, Drama Section: Forum Dir: David Zellner Inspired by an urban legend, Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter, is the captivating tale of a young Japanese woman, who becomes convinced that a satchel of
money buried and lost in a fictional film, is in fact, real. Sales: Kathy Morgan International CinemaxX 6
the same mistakes his father has made. Sales: Films Boutique Kino Arsenal 1
18:15 South Is Nothing Italy/France, 90’, Drama, Coming-of-age Section: Generation 14plus Dir: Fabio Mollo Grazia, 17, lives in a small town in Italy. Her brother Pietro disappeared years ago and her father never wanted to talk about it. She decides to search for him, breaking the rule of silence to which her father has always obeyed. Sales: Doc & Film International CinemaxX Studio 13
If You Don’t, I Will France, 102’, Comedy Section: Panorama Special Dir: Sophie Fillières Pomme and Pierre have been together for a long time. The time has come: where has their love gone? Sales: Les Films du Losange CinemaxX Studio 19
19:30 Shadow Days China, 95’, Drama Section: Forum Dir: Zhao Dayong Renwei returns to his rural hometown with his pregnant girlfriend in tow, where his uncle the mayor enforces the one-child policy with violent fervour. CinemaxX 6 21:30 Seaburners Turkey, 89’, Drama Section: Forum Dir: Melisa Önel Before the austere backdrop of the Turkish Black Sea coast, a foreign botanist, a human trafficker and a relationship doomed to failure are the central coordinates of this dark, atmospheric drama. CinemaxX 6
FEBRUARY 7 09:00 Cracks in Concrete Austria, 105’, Drama Section: Panorama Special Dir: Umut Dag 35-year-old Ertan leaves jail after 10 years as a broken man and tries to settle back in society. He is faced with his worst fear, when he realizes his son Mikail is repeating
09:20 Stereo Germany, 95’, Thriller Section: Panorama Special Dir: Maximilian Erlenwein Eric leads a quiet life, with his motorcycle workshop, his new girlfriend and her young daughter. But this seemingly happy world comes to an abrupt end when an eerie stranger, Henry, forces his way into Eric’s idyllic arrangement. Sales: Beta Cinema CinemaxX 4 09:30 40 Days of Silence Uzbekistan/Tajikistan/ Netherlands/Germany/France, 88’, Drama Section: Forum Dir: Saodat Ismailova Bibicha takes refuge in her grandmother’s house to sit out the traditional vow of silence. Moving between the landscape outside and the bright colours within, the film traces the difficult path to self-determination. CinemaxX 6 10:00 I Feel Like Disco Germany, 95’, Comedy Section: German Cinema LOLA@Berlinale Dir: Axel Ranisch A father-son story from Berlin-Lichtenberg, between highboard and dancefloor, with a touch of melancholy, a good dose of humour and plenty of disco… Zoo Palast 2
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MARKET SCREENINGS
11:00 The Kidnapping of Michel Houellebecq France, 92’, Comedy/Drama Section: Forum Dir: Guillaume Nicloux On September 16th 2011, the media announces the kidnapping of Michel Houellebecq, winner of the 2010 Prix Goncourt. For a few days, excitement spreads into the literary and journalistic sphere. Sales: Le Pacte CinemaxX 6 11:05 A Christmoose Story Netherlands/Sweden/Belgium, 85’, Fantasy Section: Generation Kplus Dir: Lourens Blok A giant moose crashes through the roof of Max’s garage! A moose self-named Mr. Moose, a moose that talks! Mr. Moose has to rest to cure his injured feet, regaling the family with stories until Santa comes to fetch him… Sales: Attraction Distribution CinemaxX Studio 15
11:30 Blind Dates Georgia, 99’, Drama Section: Forum Dir: Levan Koguashvili Sandro is a single high school teacher in his fourties. Together with his friend Iva they spend their leisure time dating women online. While this usually ends up without any results, everything changes when Sandro meets Manana. Sales: Films Boutique CinemaxX Studio 12
12:00 Beltracchi – The Art of Forgery Germany, 98’, Documentary Section: German Cinema LOLA@Berlinale Dir: Arne Birkenstock A mesmerizing, thoughtprovoking yet surprisingly amusing documentary on the life of Wolfgang Beltracchi, who tricked the international art world for nearly 40 years by forging and selling paintings. Sales: Global Screen Zoo Palast 2
Happy to Be Different Italy, 97’, Documentary/Other Section: Panorama Dokumente Dir: Gianni Amelio Happy to Be Different is a documentary which describes homosexuality in Italy during the 20th century, from the beginning to the 1980s. Stories collected in various parts of Italy, from north to south. Sales: Rai Trade dffb-Kino
12:30 Concerning Violence Sweden/USA/Denmark, 85’, Documentary/Drama Section: Panorama Dokumente Dir: Göran Hugo Olsson A bold visual narrative on Africa, based on newly discovered archive material covering the struggle for liberation from colonial rule in the late 60’s and 70’s, accompanied by text from Frantz Fanon’s The Wretched of the Earth.
Sales: Films Boutique CinemaxX Studio 18 13:00 Thou Wast Mild and Lovely USA, 76’, Drama/Thriller Section: Forum Dir: Josephine Decker When Akin arrives at the farm, he finds his job. When Sarah opens her legs, she finds someone watching. When Jeremiah opens his mouth, frightening things come out of it. But what happens by the creek next to the cow? Sales: New Europe Film Sales CinemaxX 1 20,000 Days on Earth UK, 95’, Documentary/Other Section: Panorama Dokumente Dir: Iain Forsyth, Jane Pollard 20,000 Days on Earth weaves drama and reality in a fictionalised 24 hours in the life of internationally acclaimed musician, author and screenwriter Nick Cave. Sales: HanWay Films CinemaxX 9
13:10 Broken Hill Blues Sweden, 80’, Drama Section: Generation 14plus Dir: Sofia Norlin A breathtakingly beautiful film about an isolated mining town, and how its young inhabitants are digging for a sense of meaning. Sales: The Yellow Affair CinemaxX Studio 16
Dir: Peter Krüger Hovering between documentary and fiction, N recounts the story of a Frenchman who left Europe for Africa. He devoted his life to the creation of the first encyclopedia of this other world. He died, having only reached the letter N. Sales: Wide/Wide House CinemaxX 6
Food Chains USA, 82’, Documentary/Other Section: Culinary Cinema Dir: Sanjay Rawal In this exposé, an intrepid group of workers battle to defeat the $4 trillion global supermarket industry, revealing the rampant abuse of farm laborers in the United States. Sales: Visit Films CinemaxX Studio 14
14:00 Nothing Bad Can Happen Germany, 110’, Drama Section: German Cinema LOLA@Berlinale Dir: Katrin Gebbe A drama that centers around the young Tore, who is seeking a place to stay. By accident he meets Benno and his family and is invited to live with them. Soon he realizes that his faith will be tested. Inspired by true events. Celluloid Dreams/Celluloid Nightmares Zoo Palast 2
13:15 N – The Madness of Reason Belgium/Germany/Netherlands, 102’, Drama Section: Forum
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MOVIESCOPE AT THE EFM | FEBRUARY 2014
MARKET SCREENINGS
14:15 The Way He Looks Brazil, 96’, Drama Section: Panorama Dir: Daniel Ribeiro Leonardo is a blind teenager dealing with an overprotective mother while trying to live a more independent life. When Gabriel, a new student arrives in town, unknown feelings begin to blossom in Leonardo. Sales: Films Boutique CinemaxX Studio 13 14:35 Fack Ju Goehte/ Suck Me Shakespeer Germany, 118’, Comedy Section: German Cinema LOLA@Berlinale Dir: Bora Dagtekin Ex-con Zeki discovers a school gym built on the spot where his loot is buried. He takes on a job as a substitute teacher of the toughest school class and must use all his wits to get to the spoils and bring the teens back in line. Sales: Picture Tree International CinemaxX Studio 14 15:15 She’s Lost Control USA, 90’, Drama Section: Forum Dir: Anja Marquardt As a sexual surrogate, Ronah works with troubled men to teach them the thing they fear most – intimacy. After starting to work with a new patient however, her carefully delineated boundaries become increasingly blurred. CinemaxX 6 15:40 Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter USA, 105’, Drama Section: Forum Dir: David Zellner Inspired by an urban legend, Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter, is the captivating tale of a young Japanese woman, who becomes convinced that a satchel of money buried and lost in a fictional film, is in fact, real. Sales: Kathy Morgan International CinemaxX 2 16:00 The Samurai Germany, 79’, Thriller Section: Perspektive Deutsches Kino Dir: Till Kleinert A wolf strives through the woods around a German village. Jakob the young local police officer is onto him, but senses something more in the darkness. What he finds is a man, wild eyed, in a
dress, carrying a samurai sword. Sales: Salzgeber & Co. CinemaxX Studio 18 52 Tuesdays Australia, 114’, Drama Section: Generation 14plus Dir: Sophie Hyde 16-year-old Billie’s reluctant path to independence is accelerated when her mother reveals plans to gender transition and their time together becomes limited to Tuesday afternoons. Sales: Visit Films CinemaxX Studio 13 16:15 The Tugendhat House Germany, 116’, Documentary Section: German Cinema LOLA@Berlinale Dir: Dieter Reifarth The Tugendhat House in Brno, Czech Republic, is a spectacular magnum opus of modern architecture and by now World Cultural Heritage. It is a tale of the paradox between artistic utopia . Zoo Palast 2 17:15 10 Minutes South Korea, 93’ Section: Forum Dir: Lee Yong-seung The unforgiving world of work: enticed by the prospect of a job offer following his internship, Ho-chan breaks off his studies. Yet when his hopes are dashed, Ho-chan must grin and bear it, until the humiliation becomes too much to take. Sales: Lotte Entertainment CinemaxX 6 17:30 The Rice Bomber Taiwan, 115’, Drama Section: Panorama Dir: Cho Li Based on a true social event, The Rice Bomber depicts a series of bombing incidents in Taiwan a decade ago. Sales: Ablaze Image CinemaxX Studio 12 19:15 The Airstrip - Decampment of Modernism, Part III Germany, 108’ Section: Forum Dir: Heinz Emigholz An architectural journey taking in structures and sculptures across Germany, Europe, South America, the USA, Japan and a group of islands in the Pacific, all of which connected by historical events, wars and geopolitical conflicts. Sales:Filmgalerie 451 CinemaxX 6
MOVIESCOPE AT THE EFM | FEBRUARY 2014
21:30 Daughters Germany, 92’, Drama Section: Forum Dir: Maria Speth Agnes, a teacher from a province, comes to Berlin to identify a dead girl while looking for her missing daughter. But it isn’t her. Agnes remains in Berlin nevertheless driven by hope, and meets Ines, a passionate social parasite. Sales: Alpha Violet CinemaxX 6
FEBRUARY 8 09:10 Brides Georgia/France, 94’, Drama Section: Panorama Dir: Tinatin Kajrishvili Brides portrays the unusual marriage of Nutsa and Goga, a Georgian couple whose relationship is strained due to the fact that Goga has been sentenced to many years in prison. Sales: Rezo CinemaxX 8 09:30 71 UK, 100’, Thriller Section: Competition Dir: Yann Demange A young British soldier is accidentally abandoned by his unit following a terrifying riot on the streets of Belfast in 1971. Unable to tell friend from foe, the raw recruit must survive the night alone and find his way to safety. Sales: Protagonist Pictures CineStar 2
Sales: Films Boutique CinemaxX 6 10:00 Summer Outside Germany/Switzerland, 92’, Coming-of-age Section: German Cinema LOLA@Berlinale Dir: Friederike Jehn 14-year-old Wanda moves to Switzerland with her family. Everything should get better there. But the new beginning is difficult for everyone. Despite the desire of being an intact family old wounds are opened up again. Zoo Palast 2 10:40 The Word Poland/Denmark, 97’, Drama Section: Generation 14plus Dir: Anna Kazejak How far would you go for love? This is the question Lila asks her unfaithful partner Janek. Before she takes him back he will need to go to the extreme. Sales: LevelK CinemaxX Studio 15 11:00 At Home Greece/Germany, 103’, Drama Section: Forum Dir: Athanasios Karanikolas For many years, Nadja has been the housekeeper for a rich couple on the Peloponnese, almost part of the family. When she falls ill and the economic crisis begins to bite, well-concealed class differences rear their head. CinemaxX 6
Superegos Germany/Switzerland/Austria, 94’, Comedy/Drama Section: Panorama Special Dir: Benjamin Heisenberg Life with its improbable coincidences confronts a delinquent Bohemian, Nick Gutlicht, with the ageing controversial star psychologist, Curt Ledig, whose Nazi connections are well known... Sales: Films Distribution CinemaxX 4
11:15 Two Men in Town France/Algeria/USA/Belgium, 120’, Drama Section: Competition Dir: Rachid Bouchareb Garnett, a former gang member in New Mexico, has just spent 18 years in jail for murder. With the help of his probation officer, he tries to reintegrate into society and lead a normal life. But Garnett’s past catches up with him. Sales: Pathé International CineStar 2
09:30 Joy of Man’s Desiring Canada, 70’, Other Section: Forum Dir: Denis Côté An open-ended exploration of the energies and rituals of various workplaces. From one worker to another and one machine to the next; hands, faces, breaks, toil...
12:00 Kohlhaas or the Proportionality of Means Germany, 89’, Tragicomedy Section: German Cinema LOLA@Berlinale Dir: Aron Lehmann Deep in the Bavarian countryside Kleist’s historical drama “Michael Kohlhaas” is being shot. Young
director Lehman is fighting for his film and he appeals to the imagination of the audience, since all funds have been canceled. Zoo Palast 2 12:15 Natural Resistance Italy/France, 83’, Documentary/ Other Section: Panorama Dokumente Dir: Jonathan Nossiter Four Italian winegrowers living a life we all dream of. But these protagonists of a rapidly spreading European natural wine revolution have encountered fierce resistance. Sales: Rezo CinemaxX 9 Daughters Germany, 92’, Drama Section: Forum Dir: Maria Speth Agnes, a teacher from a province, comes to Berlin to identify a dead girl while looking for her missing daughter. But it isn’t her. Agnes remains in Berlin nevertheless driven by hope, and meets Ines, a passionate social parasite. Sales: Alpha Violet CinemaxX Studio 18 13:15 Güeros - By Invitation Only Mexico, 106’, Comedy/Drama Section: Panorama Dir: Alonso Ruizpalacios Sombra and Santos live in a strange limbo since the UNAM strike broke out. Not knowing what to do, the two friends invent strange ways of killing time. Their routine will be suddenly interrupted by the unexpted arrival of Tomas. Sales: Mundial CineStar 6 A Dream of Iron South Korea/USA, 98’, Documentary Section: Forum Dir: Kelvin Kyung Kun Park Artist Kelvin Park looks back on South Korea’s history of modernization in the 1960’s, when the nation underwent drastic economic changes under President Park Jung Hee’s rule. He paints a portrait of what now remains of this time. Sales: BOC Features CinemaxX 6 13:20 Blind Norway/Netherlands, 96’, Drama Section: Panorama Dir: Eskil Vogt Having recently lost her sight,
Ingrid retreats to the safety of her home. But her real problems lie within, and her deepest fears and repressed fantasies soon take over. Sales: Versatile CinemaxX 4 13:30 Joy of Man’s Desiring Canada, 70’, Other Section: Forum Dir: Denis Côté An open-ended exploration of the energies and rituals of various workplaces. From one worker to another and one machine to the next; hands, faces, breaks, toil... Sales: Films Boutique CinemaxX Studio 12 13:50 Velvet Terrorists Slovakia/Czech Republic/Croatia, 87’, Documentary/Other Section: Forum Dir: Peter Kerekes, Pavol Pekarcík, Ivan Ostrochovský Three romantic heroes who had a go at armed resistance in communist CSSR. All of them were accused of terror and sentenced. But even terrorists have their private lives, their loves, their families. That is what this film is about. Sales: Deckert Distribution CinemaxX Studio 18 14:00 Master of the Universe Germany/Austria, 88’, Documentary Section: German Cinema - LOLA@ Berlinale Dir: Marc Bauder He was one of the top investment bankers in Germany. He made a million profit. Now he is sitting in an empty bank building in the financial center and talks. A frightening inside in a megalomaniacal, quasi-religious parallel world. Sales: Autlook Filmsales Zoo Palast 2 14:30 Food Chains USA, 82’, Documentary/Other Section: Culinary Cinema Dir: Sanjay Rawal In this exposé, an intrepid group of workers battle to defeat the $4 trillion global supermarket industry, revealing the rampant abuse of farm laborers in the United States. Sales: Visit Films CinemaxX Studio 19
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14:55 Free Range Estonia, 104’, Drama Section: Forum Dir: Veiko Ounpuu Veiko Ounpuu’s third feature film tells a story of a promising young man with exciting career opportunities and a looming marital bliss. Sales: LevelK CinemaxX Studio 14 15:00 Mission: Sputnik Germany/Belgium/Czech Republic, 83’, Children’s film Section: German Cinema - LOLA@ Berlinale Dir: Markus Dietrich Nov. 9, 1989 in Berlin. A 10-year-old girl and her friends attempt using their teleportation device to beam her uncle back to East Germany but instead, as they witness on TV, end up beaming everyone in their town into West Germany. Sales: Attraction Distribution Marriott 1 15:25 N – The Madness of Reason Belgium/Germany/Netherlands, 102’, Drama Section: Forum Dir: Peter Krüger Hovering between documentary and fiction, N recounts the story of a Frenchman who left Europe for Africa. He devoted his life to the creation of the first encyclopedia of this other world. He died, having only reached the letter N. Sales: Wide/Wide House CinemaxX Studio 18 15:30 Jack Germany, 103’, Drama Section: Competition Dir: Edward Berger For Jack (10), having a family is the most important thing in the world. Then, one day, his mother disappears. Together with his younger brother Manuel (6), he embarks on a journey to find her... Sales: Beta Cinema CineStar 2 15:45 The Police Officer’s Wife Germany, 172’, Drama Section: German Cinema - LOLA@ Berlinale Dir: Philip Gröning A simple film. A man, a woman, a child. A small town. The square apartment. Perfect Sundays. The story of a young family. Sales: The Match Factory Zoo Palast 2
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16:30 A Dream of Iron South Korea/USA, 98’, Documentary Section: Forum Dir: Kelvin Kyung Kun Park Artist Kelvin Park looks back on South Korea’s history of modernization in the 1960’s, when the nation underwent drastic economic changes under President Park Jung Hee’s rule. He paints a portrait of what now remains of this time. Sales: BOC Features Marriott 3 17:20 Supernova Netherlands/Germany/Belgium, 108’, Coming-of-age/Drama Section: Generation 14plus Dir: Tamar van den Dop Meis is fifteen and lives in an isolated house on a dangerous bend. She dreams of an exciting and heady life, but all that happens is the passing of time, waiting for the next car to crash into the house to bring her true love. Sales: EYE Film Institute Netherlands CinemaxX Studio 18 17:30 Non-fiction Diary South Korea, 93 Section: Generation 14plus Dir: Jung Yoon-suk Social and political change in South Korea of the 1990s: a period of economic boom that also saw the arrest of the infamous Jijon clan. Archive material and interviews invite reflection upon how crimes are dealt with and the death sentence employed. Sales: M-LINE Distribution CinemaxX 6 18:45 Finding Vivian Maier USA, 84’, Documentary/Drama Section: Panorama Dokumente Dir: John Maloof, Charlie Siskel This intriguing documentary traces the life story of the late Vivian Maier, a nanny whose previously unknown cache of photographs has earned her a posthumous reputation as one of America’s most accomplished photographers. Sales: HanWay Films CineStar 2 19:00 Alphabet Austria/Germany, 109’, Documentary/Other Section: German Cinema - LOLA@
Berlinale Dir: Erwin Wagenhofer Ninety-eight percent of all children are born gifted. After schooling, only two percent remain so. By the director of Let’s Make Money and We Feed the World. Sales: The Match Factory CinemaxX Studio 19 19:30 Iranian France/Switzerland, 105’, Documentary Section: Forum Dir: Mehran Tamadon To open up a dialogue about diametrically opposed values and mental structures, a filmmaker living in exile initiates a meeting with clerics loyal to the regime in Iran. Sales: Doc & Film International CinemaxX 6 21:30 Castanha Brazil, 95’, Comedy/Docu-Feature/ Drama/Thriller Section: Forum Dir: Davi Pretto João Carlos Castanha. 52 years old. Actor. Gay. Son. Crossdresser. Capable of anything for those he loves. Or hates. Sales: FiGa Films CinemaxX 6
FEBRUARY 9 09:00 The Little Ghost Germany/Switzerland, 92’, Children’s film Section: German Cinema - LOLA@ Berlinale Dir: Alain Gsponer The Little Ghost manages to exchange the night-world with the day-world where it causes quite a commotion, and cannot make itself at home. Chased by the police, the ghost asks three children for help. Sales: ARRI Worldsales CinemaxX 5 09:00 71 UK, 100’, Thriller Section: Competition Dir: Yann Demange A young British soldier is accidentally abandoned by his unit following a terrifying riot on the streets of Belfast in 1971. Unable to tell friend from foe, the raw recruit must survive the night alone and find his way to safety. Sales: Protagonist Pictures CineStar IMAX
09:15 Love Is Strange USA, 98’, Comedy/Drama Section: Panorama Special Dir: Ira Sachs After finally getting married after 28 years, Ben and George are forced to face bureaucracy and the challenges of being forced to live apart, as their tight-knit community of family and friends comes together to offer support. Sales: Fortissimo Films CinemaxX 4 09:20 Cracks in Concrete Austria, 105’, Drama Section: Panorama Special Dir: Umut Dag 35-year-old Ertan leaves jail after 10 years as a broken man and tries to settle back in society. He is faced with his worst fear, when he realizes his son Mikail is repeating the same mistakes his father has made. Sales: Films Boutique CinemaxX Studio 12 09:30 Blind Dates Georgia, 99’, Drama Section: Forum Dir: Levan Koguashvili Sandro is a single high school teacher in his fourties. Together with his friend Iva they spend their leisure time dating women online. While this usually ends up without any results, everything changes when Sandro meets Manana. Sales: Films Boutique CinemaxX 6 11:15 Natural Sciences Argentina/France, 71’, Drama Section: Generation Kplus Dir: Matías Lucchesi There is nothing to keep Lila at her boarding school high up in the cold and foggy mountains. This 12- year-old girl doesn’t know who her father is but wants to find him. She sets out on a complicated quest for the truth. Sales: UDI – Urban Distribution International CinemaxX Studio 12 11:30 Asta Upset Germany, 84’, Comedy/Other Section: Forum Dir: Max Linz A film full of playful criticality: Asta Andersen is a Berlin-based curator preparing an exhibition on cinema and politics. Her fancy friend from Bombay knows: „If she was into painting, she
The Word, 10:40, February 8 CinemaxX Studio 15
wouldn’t have these problems.“ Sales: dffb – German Film and TV Academy Berlin CinemaxX 6 12:00 Love Steaks Germany, 89’, Tragicomedy Section: German Cinema LOLA@Berlinale Dir: Jakob Lass He - a masseur. She - a cook. A couple of punches. Sales: HFF Hochschule für Film und Fernsehen Zoo Palast 2 12:15 Jack and the Cuckoo-Clock Heart France, 94’, Animation/Children’s film/Fantasy/Musical Section: Generation Kplus Dir: Mathias Malzieu, Stéphane Berla Edinburgh, late 19th century. Jack is born on a cold day with his heart frozen. Madeleine replaces the defective organ with a cuckooclock. It’ll work, she warns him, as long as he doesn’t lose his temper and doesn’t fall in love. Sales: EuropaCorp CinemaxX 9 12:35 52 Tuesdays Australia, 114’, Drama Section: Generation 14plus Dir: Sophie Hyde 16-year-old Billie’s reluctant path to independence is accelerated when her mother reveals plans to gender transition and their time together becomes limited to Tuesday afternoons. Sales: Visit Films CinemaxX Studio 12
12:45 20,000 Days on Earth UK, 95’, Documentary/Other Section: Panorama Dokumente Dir: Iain Forsyth, Jane Pollard 20,000 Days on Earth weaves drama and reality in a fictionalised 24 hours in the life of internationally acclaimed musician, author and screenwriter Nick Cave. Sales: HanWay Films CinemaxX 4 13:15 Beyond Beyond Sweden/Denmark, 78’, Children’s film, Fantasy Section: Generation Kplus Dir: Esben Toft Jacobsen Johan and his father have lived at sea for years, since Johan’s mother mysteriously disappeared. One day when Johan is alone on the boat, he gets a strange message on the radio with a clue about his mother’s whereabouts... Sales: Copenhagen Bombay Sales CineStar 6 13:30 Guidelines Canada, 76’ Section: Forum Dir: Jean-François Caissy A time rich in conflict and possibility: this documentary portrait of young people at a school in the Canadian provinces is a rigorously framed reflection on growing up, showing how their everyday lives are shaped by both themselves and others. Sales: National Film Board of Canada CinemaxX 6
MOVIESCOPE AT THE EFM | FEBRUARY 2014
MARKET SCREENINGS
Dir: Robert Lepage, Pedro Pires Three lives, three destinies that cross and resonate, Triptych is a sensitive and deeply moving variation on the themes of memory and identity. A film by Robert Lepage and Pedro Pires inspired from the play Lipsynch. Sales: National Film Board of Canada CinemaxX 4
14:00 God Help the Girl UK, 111’, Musical Section: Generation 14plus Dir: Stuart Murdoch A musical film written and directed by Stuart Murdoch of Belle & Sebastian – is an uplifting story of renaissance, friendship and romance over a long, dream-like summer. Sales: HanWay Films CineStar 2
Hong Kong, China, 124’, Science Fiction/Thriller Section: Panorama Special Dir: Fruit Chan Imagine if the whole population on earth had vanished except for you and 16 other people. How do we handle survival with the collapse of civilization? And how far are you willing to go in order to return to normal life? Sales: Fortissimo Films Zoo Palast Club A
14:00 Last Hijack Netherlands/Germany/Ireland/ Belgium, 83’, Docu-Feature/ Drama Section: Panorama Dokumente Dir: Tommy Pallotta, Femke Wolting A narrative and documentary journey into the world of one Somali Pirate – Mohamed – exploring how and why he came to live such a brutal and dangerous existence. Sales: The Match Factory CinemaxX 9
14:15 The Second Game Romania, 97’, Documentary/Other Section: Forum Dir: Corneliu Porumboiu This film is about a football match between two Bucharest teams, Steaua and Dinamo, which took place on the 3rd of December, 1988. My father was the referee. We re-watched the match together, some 25 years later. Sales: 42 KM Film CinemaxX Studio 18
14:00 Two Lives Germany/Norway, 97’, Thriller Section: German Cinema LOLA@Berlinale Dir: Georg Maas Katrine Evensen enjoys a happy life in Norway until her truth is unraveled: she was an East German spy and her entire life is built on a fake identity. Can happiness exist in a faked life? Sales: Beta Cinema Zoo Palast 2 14:10 The Midnight After
14:25 Finn Netherlands/Belgium, 90’, Children’s film Section: Generation Kplus Dir: Frans Weisz Finn, a nine-year old boy, lives with his dad. He’d like to play the violin but his dad is against it. Finn won’t give up; in secret, he takes lessons. But his new talent lands him in a dilemma… Sales: Attraction Distribution CinemaxX Studio 14 14:30 Triptych Canada, 94’, Docu-Feature/Other Section: Panorama Special
MOVIESCOPE AT THE EFM | FEBRUARY 2014
15:30 To Singapore, with Love Singapore, 70’, Section: Forum Dir: Tan Pin Pin Tan Pin Pin employs a strictly external perspective for this portrait of her hometown, the tropical economic powerhouse of Singapore, interviewing political exiles in London, Thailand and Malaysia, who are to this day unable to return home. CinemaxX 6 16:00 The Contest Denmark, 100’, Children’s film Section: Generation Kplus Dir: Martin Miehe-Renard Karl, 12, moves with his mother to the city, and immediately dreams of his escape. His new friend Sawsan wants to sing, and when the country’s biggest song contest is about to happen near Karl’s village, they hatch a daring plan. Sales: LevelK CinemaxX Studio 18 16:00 Galore Australia, 103’, Coming-of-age/ Drama Section: Generation 14plus Dir: Rhys Graham Billie and Laura share every secret except for Billie’s biggest secret she’s crazy in love with Laura’s boyfriend Danny. When Billie’s mum takes Issac into her care, the delicate balance of the three friends’ lives is disrupted. Sales: Entertainment One CineStar 2 16:05 Fack Ju Goehte/ Suck Me Shakespeer Germany, 118’, Comedy Section: German Cinema LOLA@Berlinale Dir: Bora Dagtekin Ex-con Zeki discovers a school gym built on the spot where his loot is buried. He takes on a job as a substitute teacher of the toughest school class and must use all his wits to get to the spoils and bring the teens back in line. Sales: Picture Tree International
CinemaxX Studio 14 Next Screening: Feb 12, 16:15, Zoo Palast 2 16:15 Run Boy Run Germany/France, 107’, Drama Section: German Cinema LOLA@Berlinale Dir: Pepe Danquart Based on the bestseller by Uri Orlev, an 8-year-old Jewish boy flees the Warsaw ghetto in 1942. He attempts to survive alone in the forest and then as a Christian orphan, all the while his Jewish identity is in danger of being lost. Sales: Radiant Films International Zoo Palast 2 16:30 Castanha Brazil, 95’, Comedy/DocuFeature/Drama/Thriller Section: Forum Dir: Davi Pretto João Carlos Castanha. 52 years old. Actor. Gay. Son. Crossdresser. Capable of anything for those he loves. Or hates. Sales: FiGa Films Marriott 3 16:40 Back on Track Germany, 115’, Comedy/Drama Section: German Cinema LOLA@Berlinale Dir: Kilian Riedhof Paul used to be a marathon runner. Now he lives in a home for the aged. When he decides to run one final marathon, anything seems possible. That is until the head of the home declares that Paul suffers from dementia. Sales: Beta Cinema CinemaxX Studio 13 17:30 The Darkside Australia, 94’ Section: Forum Dir: Warwick Thornton Thirteen ghost stories reinterpreted by well-known Australian actors that run the gamut between sadness, absurdity and humour: a multi-faceted, mystic mosaic dedicated to the dark side of the Australian past and the treatment of the Aborigines. Sales: ARTSCOPE CinemaxX 6 17:40 Radical Evil- By Invitation Only Germany/Austria, 96’, Documentary/Other Section: German Cinema LOLA@Berlinale Dir: Stefan Ruzowitzky
Why do normal people become mass murderers? How is it possible to believe that evil is good? Told through the personal notes of killing soldiers and staged psychological tests. Suddenly to be evil seems so normal. Sales: First Hand Films CinemaxX Studio 18 17:45 Violet Belgium/Netherlands, 82’ Section: Generation 14plus Dir: Bas Devos 15-year-old Jesse is the only one who witnessed the stabbing of his friend Jonas. Now he has to face his family and friends from the BMX riders crew and explain the explainable - how he feels about it. Sales: New Europe Film Sales CineStar 4 18:00 The Dream - By Invitation Only Spain, 82’, Documentary Section: Culinary Cinema Film & Food Dir: Franc Aleu A 12-course opera, a 12-act banquet. EL Somni offers a a never-seen-before experience through a multi-format performance with the culinary creations of the best restaurant of the world, El Celler del Can Roca. Sales: MediaPro CineStar 2 18:05 Journey to Jah Germany/Switzerland, 92’, Documentary/Musical Section: German Cinema LOLA@Berlinale Dir: Noël Dernesch, Moritz Springer Two European reggae artists flee Western consumerism to Jamaica, where they embark on a search for reggae’s spiritual meaning. Journey to Jah is a tale of the seeking and finding of a spiritual home in a foreign culture. Sales: Rise and Shine World Sales CinemaxX Studio 16 19:20 Quiet Bliss Italy, 127’, Drama Section: Panorama Special Dir: Edoardo Winspeare In time of crisis, the failure of their family business forces 4 women to move to the countryside. Working the land and bartering the products seem a new beginning, a chance of being happy again. An eco-friendly zero impact movie. Sales: Intramovies CineStar 4
19:30 Nagima Kazakhstan, 80’, Section: Forum Dir: Zhanna Issabayeva Nagima can only just make ends meet by working as a kitchen porter. When she loses her beloved friend and roommate in childbirth, her already precarious situation soon takes on unbearable dimensions. CinemaxX 6 21:30 And There We are, in the Middle Austria, 85’ Section: Forum Dir: Sebastian Brameshuber In 2009, Ebensee in Austria hit the headlines after teenagers disrupted a concentration camp memorial ceremony. Without direct comment, the film paints a complex picture of the town’s youth: daily life, identity formation and dwindling perspectives. CinemaxX 6
FEBRUARY 10 09:30 Forma Japan, 145’, Drama Section: Forum Dir: Ayumi Sakamoto Two former school friends bump into each other on the street, whereupon Ayako offers Yukari a job at her company. Once at work however, Ayako sets about ostracising Yukari with deliberate subtlety. CinemaxX 6 10:00 As Time Goes By in Shanghai Germany/Netherlands, 90’, Documentary Section: German Cinema LOLA@Berlinale Dir: Uli Gaulke The members of this Shanghai Jazz band, all aged between 65 and 87, have seen it all – from the Japanese occupation to the Communist Cultural Revolution, to turbo capitalism – but what lies ahead could be their greatest adventure. Sales: Autlook Filmsales Zoo Palast 2 10:35 Los Ángeles Mexico/Germany, 97’, Drama/ Thriller Section: Forum Dir: Damian John Harper In order to support his family in Southern Mexico, Mateo (17) has
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to join the gang and leave for Los Angeles. Yet before he can depart, the leader of the local gang demands that Mateo commits a murder. Sales: Picture Tree International CinemaxX Studio 17 10:40 Exit Marrakesh Germany, 122’, Drama Section: German Cinema LOLA@Berlinale Dir: Caroline Link When 17-year-old Ben visits his father Heinrich in Marrakech, it is the start of an adventurous journey through a foreign country with a picturesque charm and a rough beauty where everything appears possible. Sales: ARRI Worldsales Kino Arsenal 2 11:10 If You Don’t, I Will France, 102’, Comedy Section: Panorama Special Dir: Sophie Fillières Pomme and Pierre have been together for a long time. The time has come: where has their love gone? Sales: Les Films du Losange CinemaxX Studio 12 11:10 Two Men in Town France/Algeria/USA/Belgium, 120’, Drama Section: Competition Dir: Rachid Bouchareb Garnett, a former gang member in New Mexico, has just spent 18 years in jail for murder. With the help of his probation officer, he tries to reintegrate into society and lead a normal life. But Garnett’s past catches up with him. Sales: Pathé International CineStar 2 11:15 Stations of the Cross Germany/France, 107’, Drama Section: Competition Dir: Dietrich Brüggemann Maria is 14 and part of a fundamentalist Catholic community. She lives in the modern world, yet her heart belongs to Jesus. She wants to become a saint and go to heaven, just like all those holy children she’s been told about... Sales: Beta Cinema CinemaxX 10 12:00 Finsterworld Germany, 91’, Drama, Comedy Section: German Cinema -
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LOLA@Berlinale Dir: Frauke Finsterwalder Connecting the lives of 12 lead characters in a scathing portrait of modern-day life, Finsterworld is an intensely funny yet subtly terrifying film, full of malicious wit and sharp-tongued dialogue. Sales: Global Screen Zoo Palast 2 13:00 Güeros By Invitation Only Mexico, 106’, Comedy/Drama Section: Panorama Dir: Alonso Ruizpalacios Sombra and Santos live in a strange limbo since the UNAM strike broke out. Not knowing what to do, the two friends invent strange ways of killing time. Their routine will be suddenly interrupted by the unexpted arrival of Tomas. Sales: Mundial CineStar IMAX 13:15 Jack Germany, 103’, Drama Section: Competition Dir: Edward Berger For Jack (10), having a family is the most important thing in the world. Then, one day, his mother disappears. Together with his younger brother Manuel (6), he embarks on a journey to find her. Sales: Beta Cinema CineStar 2 13:30 Scrap Yard France, 90’ Section: Forum Dir: Nadège Trebal An observational documentary that takes a scrap yard on the outskirts of Marseille in its sights: a place for people from different backgrounds to search for car parts, a helping hand or a sympathetic ear. CinemaxX 6 14:00 Home from Home – Chronicle of a Vision Germany/France, 230’, Drama Section: German Cinema LOLA@Berlinale Dir: Edgar Reitz Home from Home – Chronicle of a Vision is a beautiful shot family epic, which focuses with outmost authenticity on the story of ordinary people and their lives. Sales: ARRI Worldsales Zoo Palast 2 14:15 Aunt Hilda! France/Luxembourg, 89’,
Animation/Comedy Section: Generation Kplus Dir: Jacques-Rémy Girerd, Benoît Chieux Hilda preserves endangered rare plants. Meanwhile Attilem, a genetically modified cereal is created. Growing with little water and fertilizer, it looks like an ideal solution to eradicate starvation. But nothing is as it seems... Sales: SND – Groupe M6 MGB-Kino 15:15 History of Fear Argentina/Uruguay/Germany/ France, 79’, Thriller Section: Competition Dir: Benjamin Naishtat When a heat wave grips the suburbs of Buenos Aires, blackouts and waves of pollution push the social order to the brink of collapse, forcing each inhabitant to confront his own motives, instincts and fears. Sales: Visit Films CineStar 6 15:30 Parasite Poland/UK, 66’, Drama Section: Forum Dir: Wilhelm Sasnal, Anka Sasnal An old man bearing the scars of a life spent in a factory. His daughter and her new-born baby who move in with him. Simple existence and different bodies, at the end of life, at its beginning and somewhere in-between. Sales: CinemaxX 6 15:30 Atlantida Argentina/France, 78’, Coming-of-age/Other Section: Generation 14plus Dir: Inés María Barrionuevo A hot summer day in a village in Argentina. Adults are nowhere in sight and time has come to a stop. Yet for two teen sisters everything is in motion. It is their feelings and desires that propel the film onwards. Sales: Media Luna New Films Marriott 3 15:50 The Man of the Crowd Brazil, 95’, Drama, Fantasy, Romance Section: Panorama Dir: Marcelo Gomes, Cao Guimarães Juvenal and Margo live in a state of deep loneliness, each in their own way. This film is a reflection on different kinds of solitude and friendship in Brazilian urban landscape.
Blind, 12:45, February 11 CinemaxX 10
Sales: FiGa Films CinemaxX Studio 18 15:50 Natural Resistance Italy/France, 83’, Documentary/ Other Section: Panorama Dokumente Dir: Jonathan Nossiter Four Italian winegrowers living a life we all dream of. But these protagonists of a rapidly spreading European natural wine revolution have encountered fierce resistance. Sales: Rezo MGB-Kino 16:20 Afternoon of a Faun: Tanaquil Le Clercq USA, 91’, Documentary Section: Berlinale Special Dir: Nancy Buirski Of the great ballerinas, Tanaquil Le Clercq may have been the most transcendent. Muse to both George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins, she was the foremost dancer of her day until, at age 27, she was struck down by polio. Sales: Cactus Three Parliament 17:00 Yves Saint Laurent France, 110’, Other Section: Panorama Special Dir: Jalil Lespert At 21, after being appointed head of the fashion house Christian Dior, Yves Saint Laurent met Pierre Bergé, future love of his life and lifelong business partner. Fostered by Pierre, Yves turned the world of fashion upside down. Sales: SND – Groupe M6 CinemaxX 4 17:00 Love Is Strange USA, 98’, Comedy/Drama
Section: Panorama Special Dir: Ira Sachs After finally getting married after 28 years, Ben and George are forced to face bureaucracy and the challenges of being forced to live apart, as their tight-knit community of family and friends comes together to offer support. Sales: Fortissimo Films CinemaxX 2 17:10 The Decent One Israel/Austria/Germany, 94’, Section: Panorama Dokumente Dir: Vanessa Lapa Previously undiscovered private letters and diaries found in Heinrich Himmler’s house in 1945 expose the unique and at times uncomfortable access to Himmler’s mind which turned him into the Architect of the Final Solution. Sales: Cinephil CinemaxX Studio 14 17:15 The Forest is Like the Mountains Romania/Germany, 101’, Documentary Section: Forum Dir: Christiane Schmidt, Didier Guillain A Roma village in the Romanian provinces, where the inhabitants live off the land. A sensitive observation of life on the economic sidelines, where a strong sense of community is what keeps things together. CinemaxX 6 17:30 We Come as Friends France/Austria, 105’, Documentary/Other Section: Berlinale Special Dir: Hubert Sauper Set in central Africa, this
documentary explores a ‘civilizing’ pathology that transcends the new headlines (colonialism, imperialism, and holy war over resources) and leads us into improbable locations and into people’s thoughts. Sales: Le Pacte CinemaxX Studio 18 17:30 Beloved Sisters Germany/Austria, 170’, Drama Section: Competition Dir: Dominik Graf The aristocratic sisters Charlotte and Caroline both fall in love with the controversial young writer and hothead Friedrich Schiller. Defying the conventions of their time, the sisters decide to share their love with Schiller... Sales: Global Screen CineStar 2 19:30 The Square USA/Egypt, 104’, Section: Forum Dir: Jehane Noujaim For a period of two years, Jehane Noujaim trained her camera on a group of different activists at Tahrir Square: Ahmed, who has nothing to lose, Magdy, who is a supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood and actor Abdallah who seeks to document the events. CinemaxX 6 21:30 Top Girl or la déformation professionnelle Germany, 94’, Section: Forum Dir: Tatjana Turanskyj The second part of the ‘Women and Work’ trilogy shows the everyday life of Helena, a frustrated actress who works as a high-class prostitute whilst trying
MOVIESCOPE AT THE EFM | FEBRUARY 2014
MARKET SCREENINGS
to take care of her young daughter. A stylised, provocative reflection on the oldest of professions. CinemaxX 6
FEBRUARY 11 09:30 Souvenir Germany, 81’ Section: Forum Dir: André Siegers Political foundation representative, politician and attention-seeker Alfred Diebold disappears without trace on an Arctic cruise. His amateur footage is the basis for this distinctive blend of self-dramatisation, personal portrait and historical document. CinemaxX 6 10:00 Radical Evil Germany/Austria, 96’, Documentary/Other Section: German Cinema LOLA@Berlinale Dir: Stefan Ruzowitzky Why do normal people become mass murderers? How is it possible to believe that evil is good? Told through the personal notes of killing soldiers and staged psychological tests. Suddenly to be evil seems so normal. Sales: First Hand Films Zoo Palast 2 10:00 The Physician Germany, 150’, Drama/Other Section: German Cinema LOLA@Berlinale Dir: Philipp Stölzl A breathtaking adventure set in 11th-century England and Persia in the tradition of great international bestselling european films such as The House of the Spirits, The Name of the Rose and Perfume: The Story of a Murder. Sales: Beta Cinema CinemaxX 8 10:50 Iranian France/Switzerland, 105’, Documentary Section: Forum Dir: Mehran Tamadon To open up a dialogue about diametrically opposed values and mental structures, a filmmaker living in exile initiates a meeting with clerics loyal to the regime in Iran. Sales: Doc & Film International CinemaxX Studio 16
11:00 Wolfy, the Incredible Secret France, 80’, Animation/Children’s film Section: Generation Kplus Dir: Grégoire Solotareff, Éric Omond Wolfy is a wolf. Tom is a rabbit. Wolfy, who thought he was an orphan, discovers that his mother is alive. Both friends take on a journey to the Principality of Wolfenberg, ruled by wolves, to look for Wolfy’s mother. Sales: Films Distribution Kino Arsenal 2 11:15 Finsterworld Germany, 91’, Drama, Comedy Section: German Cinema LOLA@Berlinale Dir: Frauke Finsterwalder Connecting the lives of 12 lead characters in a scathing portrait of modern-day life, Finsterworld is an intensely funny yet subtly terrifying film, full of malicious wit and sharp-tongued dialogue. Sales: Global Screen CinemaxX 2 11:30 Le beau danger Germany, 100’, Section: Forum Dir: René Frölke A formally radical portrait of Romanian author and concentration camp survivor Norman Manea: intertitles with extracts of his work alongside scenes from his day-to-day life as a writer, raising questions of exile, language, identity and representation. CinemaxX 6
CinemaxX 10 12:50 Unfriend Philippines, 93’, Drama Section: Panorama Dir: Joselito Altarejos A 15-year-old boy plans to kill his 17-year-old online boyfriend hoping he could get the love he had been dreaming of. Sales: Fortissimo Films CinemaxX 2 13:15 Brides Georgia/France, 94’, Drama Section: Panorama Dir: Tinatin Kajrishvili Brides portrays the unusual marriage of Nutsa and Goga, a Georgian couple whose relationship is strained due to the fact that Goga has been sentenced to many years in prison. Sales: Rezo CinemaxX Studio 12 13:45 Velvet Terrorists Slovakia/Czech Republic/Croatia, 87’, Documentary/Other Section: Forum Dir: Peter Kerekes, Pavol Pekarcík, Ivan Ostrochovsky Three romantic heroes who had a go at armed resistance in communist CSSR. All of them were accused of terror and sentenced. But even terrorists have their private lives, their loves, their families. That is what this film is about. Sales: Deckert Distribution CinemaxX 6
12:00 Hanna’s Journey Germany/Israel, 100’, Romance Section: German Cinema - LOLA@ Berlinale Dir: Julia von Heinz Hanna (26) has already planned out her life and her career. To advance her career she is beginning a volunteer job in Tel Aviv, not knowing, that this will change her perspective on life forever. Sales: Media Luna New Films Zoo Palast 2
14:00 Cesar’s Grill Germany/Switzerland, 88’, Documentary Section: German Cinema LOLA@Berlinale Dir: Dario Aguirre My father Cesar thought I was going to take over his grill restaurant in Ecuador, but I decided to go to Germany and became vegetarian. Ten years later I return to solve the problems of his ramshackle restaurant. Sales: Rise and Shine World Sales Zoo Palast 2
12:45 Blind Norway/Netherlands, 96’, Drama Section: Panorama Dir: Eskil Vogt Having recently lost her sight, Ingrid retreats to the safety of her home. But her real problems lie within, and her deepest fears and repressed fantasies soon take over. Sales: Versatile
15:00 Blind Massage China/France, 114’, Drama Section: Competition Dir: Ye Lou At a massage centre run by the blind in Nanjing, damaged bodies find relief beneath sensitive fingers. A new couple starts to work at the centre. In this
MOVIESCOPE AT THE EFM | FEBRUARY 2014
community, we witness seduction, suffering and above all the search for love. Sales: Wild Bunch CinemaxX Studio 12 15:00 Superegos Germany/Switzerland/Austria, 94’, Comedy/Drama Section: Panorama Special Dir: Benjamin Heisenberg Life with its improbable coincidences confronts a delinquent Bohemian, Nick Gutlicht, with the ageing controversial star psychologist, Curt Ledig, whose Nazi connections are well known... Sales: Films Distribution CinemaxX 4
eight years begins… Zoo Palast 2 16:45 Stereo Germany, 95’, Thriller Section: Panorama Special Dir: Maximilian Erlenwein Eric leads a quiet life, with his motorcycle workshop, his new girlfriend and her young daughter. But this seemingly happy world comes to an abrupt end when an eerie stranger, Henry, forces his way into Eric’s idyllic arrangement. Sales: Beta Cinema CinemaxX 4
16:00 The Great Museum Austria, 94’, Documentary Section: Forum Dir: Johannes Holzhausen A look behind the scenes of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna: curators, technicians, restorers, taxidermists, marketing strategists and the management board at work. Sales: Wide CinemaxX Studio 18
17:30 Everything That Rises Must Converge Germany/USA, 56’, Section: Forum Expanded Dir: Omer Fast Documentary scenes from a typical work day for four adult film performers are injected with fictional characters. Shown as a grid of four simultaneous images, the film weaves scenes of everyday life with moments of beauty and apparent convergence. CinemaxX 6
16:00 The Honour Keeper India, 63’, Section: Forum Dir: Pushpendra Singh Drawing on unadorned images of striking clarity and gleaming colours, this adaptation of a Rajastani folk tale narrates the love story between a young woman named Lajwanti and a mysterious man with an obsession for doves. CinemaxX 6
18:15 Home from Home – Chronicle of a Vision Germany/France, 230’, Drama Section: German Cinema - LOLA@ Berlinale Dir: Edgar Reitz Home from Home – Chronicle of a Vision is a beautiful shot family epic, which focuses with outmost authenticity on the story of ordinary people and their lives. Sales: ARRI Worldsales CinemaxX 2
16:15 Things People Do USA, 109’, Drama Section: Panorama Special Dir: Saar Klein Bill, a well meaning family man, unwittingly turns to crime as a last resort after losing his job. But his growing friendship with a police detective threatens to expose his double life... Sales: Celluloid Dreams/Celluloid Nightmares CinemaxX 2
19:00 DMD KIU LIDT Austria/Germany, 55’, Section: Forum Dir: Georg Tiller The Manifestation of Capitalism in Our Lives is Sadness is how the title of the album DMD KIU LIDT by indie band Ja, Panik translates. Largely doing away with music, this melancholy black and white portrait shows the band in their Berlin and Vienna haunts. CinemaxX 6
16:15 3096 Tage Germany, 103’, Drama Section: German Cinema - LOLA@ Berlinale Dir: Sherry Hormann At the age of ten, Natascha Kampusch is abducted on her way to school. A martyrdom of
FEBRUARY 12 09:30 Scent of Revolution Egypt/Germany, 98’, Section: Forum Dir: Viola Shafik Four people of different ages and
backgrounds narrate their various perspectives on Egypt and links to the revolution. This complex documentary places its theme up for discussion in all directions and thus gives the revolution a chance to breathe. CinemaxX 6 10:00 Beautiful Krista Germany, 91’, Documentary Section: German Cinema - LOLA@ Berlinale Dir: Antje Schneider, Carsten Waldbauer Krista is Germanys top model. Discovered by a young farmer in East Frisia, she is about to be built into a trademark of the European agri-food industry. But her down to earth cow nature keeps balking at its recovery operations. Sales: Lichtblick Film Zoo Palast 3 10:00 Alphabet Austria/Germany, 109’, Documentary Section: German Cinema - LOLA@ Berlinale Dir: Erwin Wagenhofer Ninety-eight percent of all children are born gifted. After schooling, only two percent remain so. By the director of Let’s Make Money and We Feed the World. Sales: The Match Factory Zoo Palast 2 10:00 Asta Upset Germany, 84’, Comedy/Other Section: Forum Dir: Max Linz A film full of playful criticality: Asta Andersen is a Berlin-based curator preparing an exhibition on cinema and politics. Her fancy friend from Bombay knows: „If she was into painting, she wouldn’t have these problems.“ Sales: dffb – German Film and TV Academy Berlin dffb-Kino 11:30 The Second Game Romania, 97’, Documentary/ Other Section: Forum Dir: Corneliu Porumboiu This film is about a football match between two Bucharest teams, Steaua and Dinamo, which took place on the 3rd of December, 1988. My father was the referee. We re-watched the match together, some 25 years later. Sales: 42 KM Film CinemaxX 6
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11:30 Things People Do USA, 109’, Drama Section: Panorama Special Dir: Saar Klein Bill, a well meaning family man, unwittingly turns to crime as a last resort after losing his job. But his growing friendship with a police detective threatens to expose his double life... Sales: Celluloid Dreams/Celluloid Nightmares CinemaxX 2 12:00 Mission: Sputnik Germany/Belgium/Czech Republic, 83’, Children’s film Section: German Cinema LOLA@Berlinale Dir: Markus Dietrich Nov. 9, 1989 in Berlin. A 10-year-old girl and her friends attempt using their teleportation device to beam her uncle back to East Germany but instead, as they witness on TV, end up beaming everyone in their town into West Germany. Sales: Attraction Distribution Zoo Palast 3 12:00 Tarzan Germany, 94’, Children’s film Section: German Cinema LOLA@Berlinale Dir: Reinhard Klooss Edgar Rice Burrough’s Tarzan – one of the most classic stories of all times – returns to the big screen, completely reimagined for a new generation and produced in state-of-the-art motion capture 3D and Dolby Atmos. Sales: Lionsgate Zoo Palast 2 13:30 for nothing Germany, 93’, Section: Forum Expanded Dir: Stephan Geene A film on the great banality of doing nothing or little, but also on the pitfalls of the so-called Kreuzberg-feeling; and about Aziza, her mother, and Zach from New Zealand, in Berlin with open end. An end, into which the film finally falls itself. CinemaxX 6 14:00 Houston Germany/USA, 111’, Drama Section: German Cinema LOLA@Berlinale Dir: Bastian Günther Clemens is a headhunter and an alcoholic. Drinking increasingly
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isolates him from his life and leads him away from reality. On the hunt for a CEO in Houston, his addiction takes him on a haunting journey into his own darkness. Sales: HanWay Films Zoo Palast 2 14:00 Layla Fourie Germany/South Africa/France, 108’, Drama Section: German Cinema LOLA@Berlinale Dir: Pia Marais Layla Fourie, a single-mother in South Africa, receives a job assignment as polygraphist. In the constant presence of mistrust, lies and fear, Layla soon becomes a suspect herself. Sales: The Match Factory Zoo Palast 3 14:30 The Samurai Germany, 79’, Thriller Section: Perspektive Deutsches Kino Dir: Till Kleinert A wolf strives through the woods around a German village. Jakob the young local police officer is onto him, but senses something more in the darkness. What he finds is a man, wild eyed, in a dress, carrying a samurai sword. Sales: Salzgeber & Co. dffb-Kino 15:30 Pierrot Lunaire Germany/Canada, 51’, Section: Forum Expanded Dir: Bruce LaBruce A young woman that regularly dresses as a man falls in love and seduces a young girl that has no clue that her lover is of the same sex. When the girl introduces ‘her boyfriend’ to her father he becomes skeptical and unmasks the fraud. Sales: m-appeal / Raspberry & Cream CinemaxX 6 16:15 Exit Marrakesh Germany, 122’, Drama Section: German Cinema LOLA@Berlinale Dir: Caroline Link When 17-year-old Ben visits his father Heinrich in Marrakech, it is the start of an adventurous journey through a foreign country with a picturesque charm and a rough beauty where everything appears possible. Sales: ARRI Worldsales Zoo Palast 3
16:15 Fack Ju Goehte/ Suck Me Shakespeer Germany, 118’, Comedy Section: German Cinema LOLA@Berlinale Dir: Bora Dagtekin Ex-con Zeki discovers a school gym built on the spot where his loot is buried. He takes on a job as a substitute teacher of the toughest school class and must use all his wits to get to the spoils and bring the teens back in line. Sales: Picture Tree International Zoo Palast 2 17:00 Journey with Prabhat India, 89’, Documentary Section: Forum Dir: Jessica Sadana, Samarth Dixit A documentary portrait of the legendary Prabhat studios in Pune, which are now home to the Indian National Film Archive and Institute. A piece of Indian film history is brought to life in anecdotes from former employees and film excerpts. CinemaxX 6 17:00 The Police Officer’s Wife Germany, 172’, Drama Section: German Cinema LOLA@Berlinale Dir: Philip Gröning A simple film. A man, a woman, a child. A small town. The square apartment. Perfect Sundays. The story of a young family. Sales: The Match Factory CinemaxX 2
FEBRUARY 13 10:00 Parents Germany, 99’, Comedy Section: German Cinema LOLA@Berlinale Dir: Robert Thalheim Konrad stayed home for several years to take care of his children. Meanwhile, his wife Christine pursued her career as an anaesthetist. After a long break, Konrad has now the chance to return to his old job. Zoo Palast 2 10:00 Free Fall Germany, 100’, Drama Section: German Cinema LOLA@Berlinale Dir: Stephan Lacant Torn between his family and his new feelings for Kay, Marc sees his world careening more and more out of control. Suddenly, his
life is in free fall and Marc realizes that he can’t make everyone happy. Least of all himself. Sales: Salzgeber & Co. Zoo Palast 3 12:00 Five Years Germany, 95’, Drama Section: German Cinema LOLA@Berlinale Dir: Stefan Schaller Based on original documents, Five Years is the true story of the German Turk Murat Kurnaz, an innocent man interned in Guantánamo, where the struggle for physical and mental survival demands nearly superhuman efforts. Sales: Global Screen Zoo Palast 3 12:00 Foreign Germany, 92’, Documentary Section: German Cinema LOLA@Berlinale Dir: Miriam Fassbender Foreign is a journey into the unknown, a search for a better life, a reflection of time and a film about failure. Zoo Palast 2 14:00 Dragon Girls Germany, 89’, Documentary Section: German Cinema LOLA@Berlinale Dir: Inigo Westmeier The documentary Dragon Girls tells the story of three Chinese girls, training to become Kung Fu fighters, far away from their families at the Shaolin Tagou Kung Fu School, located next to the Shaolin Monastery. Sales: Attraction Distribution Zoo Palast 3 14:00 The Iranian Job Germany, 93’, Documentary Section: German Cinema LOLA@Berlinale Dir: Till Schauder Der Iran Job follows American basketball player Kevin Sheppard as he accepts a job to play in one of the world’s most feared countries: Iran. Zoo Palast 2 16:15 Back on Track Germany, 115’, Comedy/Drama Section: German Cinema LOLA@Berlinale Dir: Kilian Riedhof Paul used to be a marathon runner. Now he lives in a home for the aged. When he decides to run one final marathon, anything seems possible. That is until the
head of the home declares that Paul suffers from dementia. Sales: Beta Cinema Zoo Palast 3 16:15 The Physician Germany, 150’, Drama/Other Section: German Cinema LOLA@Berlinale Dir: Philipp Stölzl A breathtaking adventure set in 11th-century England and Persia in the tradition of great international bestselling european films such as The House of the Spirits, The Name of the Rose and Perfume: The Story of a Murder. Sales: Beta Cinema Zoo Palast 2
FEBRUARY 14 10:00 Journey to Jah Germany/Switzerland, 92’, Documentary/Musical/Other Section: German Cinema LOLA@Berlinale Dir: Noël Dernesch, Moritz Springer Two European reggae artists flee Western consumerism to Jamaica, where they embark on a search for reggae’s spiritual meaning. Journey to Jah is a tale of the seeking and finding of a spiritual home in a foreign culture. Sales: Rise and Shine World Sales Zoo Palast 2 10:00 Windstorm Germany, 103’, Children’s film Section: German Cinema LOLA@Berlinale Dir: Katja von Garnier 14-year-old Mika, having failed her final exams, is cast off to her grandmothers’ country home. She forms a mystical bond with the untamed stallion Windstorm and discovers that within her lies the gift of a true horse whisperer. Sales: Attraction Distribution Zoo Palast 3 12:00 My Way to Olympia Germany, 85’, Documentary Section: German Cinema LOLA@Berlinale Dir: Niko von Glasow The short-armed film director Niko von Glasow undertakes a journey to athletes, who compete at the Paralympic Games in London 2012. Sales: Autlook Filmsales Zoo Palast 3
12:00 And Who Taught You to Drive? Germany, 84’, Documentary Section: German Cinema LOLA@Berlinale Dir: Andrea Thieme An American in Tokyo, a Korean in Bavaria and a German in Mumbai: Prepare for a culture clash of global proportions when you have to pass your driving test again in another country... Sales: Rise and Shine World Sales Zoo Palast 2 14:00 Bibi & Tina Germany, 90’, Children’s film Section: German Cinema LOLA@Berlinale Dir: Detlev Buck Cheeky witch Bibi Blocksberg loves spending her holidays at the Martins farm, where her best friend Tina lives. On their horses they are simply unbeatable. But this time they have a serious rival. Sales: Beta Cinema Zoo Palast 3 14:00 Not My Day Germany, 115’, Comedy Section: German Cinema LOLA@Berlinale Dir: Peter Thorwarth Bank teller Till Reiners’ life is torn out of a rut by a series of offbeat coincidences, which ultimately lead him to find himself and realize: His life isn’t so bad after all… Zoo Palast 2 16:15 Wetlands Germany, 109’, Coming-of-age Section: German Cinema LOLA@Berlinale Dir: David Wnendt All Helen longs for is to see her divorced parents reunited. After an intimate shaving accident she ends up in hospital and sees a chance to reconcile her parents at her sickbed and finds an ally in her male nurse, Robin... Sales: The Match Factory Zoo Palast 2 16:15 The Little Ghost Germany/Switzerland, 92’, Children’s film Section: German Cinema LOLA@Berlinale Dir: Alain Gsponer The Little Ghost manages to exchange the night-world with the day-world where it causes quite a commotion, and cannot make itself at home. Chased by the police, the ghost asks three children for help. Sales: ARRI Worldsales Zoo Palast 3
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★ Bronx (Paris) www.bronx.fr
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Alvernia Studios Nieporaz 117, 32-566 Alwernia, Poland e-mail: studios@alvernia.com
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